goon's Journal: /. gone 2 seed #37

slashdot gone to seed #37

  Journal #37
  http://slashdot.org/~goon
  goon [e-mail]
  shown as goonmail@netspac[ ]et.au
  ['e.n' in gap]
  http://goonmail. ...
  netspace.net.au/Karma: Excellent
  Welcome back goon (2774)
  goon's Latest 24 of 575 Comments [0]

Sig to noise

Since 1996 I`ve been making crappy comments and observations on slashdot. And I must say while I still like to frequently check the stories. I find them less interesting. The comments are less informative. Innovation less than inspiring. Its not just the dilution of smart readers that is a problem.

...with a uids in the 200K region
  Slashdot reminds me when AOL users
  where let out of their sandpits onto
  the Internet. ...

It`s the complete lack of innovation that annoys me. I can`t get an rss feed of my posts meaning I have to view the page to see updated comments or journals. And can all be summed up as a highly skewed sig to noise ratio. Why then do I continue to read the articles? Maybe its to respond the posts like those below.

Short memory

In a slashdot article [1] I corrected an factually incorrect post

Wrong. Dead wrong.

The Senator you are refering to is (ex) Senator Brian Harridine [2]. You can read here an interview on ABC Radio, AM (22 June, 2005) [3] on his Senate retirement. Harridine was a independent hardliner from Tasmania. The Senator you refer to is Richard Alston [4], Liberal Party Hack & now gracing the powers of London as Australia's High Comissioner in the UK.

... Thankfully Alston lost his
  powerseat during following elections ...

No it has to do with fixed terms in the senate. You can read this in reference 1.

... Alston was exposed as the luddite
  nutjob he trully was and the sun once
  again shone. ...

No (unfortunately). He was among other things appointed 'Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Information Technology at Bond University in Queensland'.

Is this a Sponsored article?

On a slashdot story [5] I made a comment [6].

  Even the CEO shared an office at Google
  for several months after he arrived.

`Packem in`, but not too tight. No mention of googles corporate niceness is complete without mentioning googlewatch.org [7]. I woudn`t necessarily be so cynical but look at the *cough* authors. Since when do CEO`s pen articles for Magazines? This alone should send out a warning sign to readers of the article.

The `Data drive decisions` line is a crock. No amount of data will allow accurate future decision making and is illustrated clearly by Clayton Christiansen`s talk on ITConversation, Capturing the Upside [8].

One of the things that has always puzzled me is why google has to communicate the `dont be evil line` everytime they get a chance. My interpretation of this is spin. I can imagine Google has to enforce the perception they are not some intelligence gathering tool for the state. [9] The golden rule for PR is repeat a short message, loud and often. So often the perception becomes reality.

Self serving fluff

On the same slashdot story I picked up a few stooges [10], [11]

  This isn't an article on how great
  Google is. This is an article by
  somebody in Google management trying to
  explain how Google handles its
  employees, and why it has been
  sucessful.

Full marks for citing the authors but this is not Journalism and should not be paraded as such.

This article is spin. Avoid the hard questions. Tell your story, repeat the lines you want the market to hear. Repeat it often.

The way it works in real journalism is balance. Test the assertions made by Schmidt with critical questions. Get them to answer the hard questions like cookie privacy and copyright. Where is the Journalist asking the hard questions to the CEO & paid consultant?

You wont get this with the self serving fluff you are reading. I would not bat an eyelid if this article was on the google blog page. For it to appear on Newsweek requires a different standard.

geeky way

On a slashdot journal [12] I responded [13]

I know it might *hurt* but try another keyboard till you can find a replacement. If you want to kown the the really geeky way - pull it apart, see if you can fix it yourself, post the requisite googleing.

This is a hunt ...

On a slashdot story [14] I responded [15]

  '... kill, and eat emus during his
  frequent, clandestine trips to
  Australia. ...'

No need. You can get emu in the supermarket along with Kangaroo, Crocs, Buffallo, Camel etc. I'd be a lot more impressed with hunting Taipan, Hoop snakes & Dropbears in season.

Reference
[0] slashdot.org/~goon, `old /. account`:
http://slashdot.org/~goon
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[1] slashdot, `Australian Senator Wants to Censor the Net: [1] slashdot, `Australian Senator Wants to Censor the Net: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/08/0047235&tid=95
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[2] Australian Parliament Hansard, 'Validictory, Senate Hansard, 21 June, 2005':
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?id=2220537&table=HANSARDS
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[3] ABC AM, 'Brian Harradine bids farewell to the Senate':
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1397805.htm
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[4] Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, 'Richard Alston
Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom':
http://www.dfat.gov.au/homs/uk.html
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[5] slashdot.org, `Googles 10 Golden Rules`:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/06/1550237&threshold=3&tid=217
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[6] slashdot.org, `Is this a Sponsored article?`:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=170320&cid=14197980
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[7] google-watch.org, `Who watches the watchers?`: [7] google-watch.org, `Who watches the watchers?`: http://www.google-watch.org
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[8] delicious, `Clayton Christainsen, Capturing the Upside talk on ITConversations, 2004MAR17, Runtime: 1Hr 48m, 37.3Mb`: [8] delicious, `Clayton Christainsen, Capturing the Upside talk on ITConversations, 2004MAR17, Runtime: 1Hr 48m, 37.3Mb`: http://del.icio.us/goon/clayton.christiansen
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[9] google-watch.org, `Spooks on board, article about Google hiring exNSA staff.`: [9] google-watch.org, `Spooks on board, article about Google hiring exNSA staff.`: http://www.google-watch.org/jobad.html
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[10] www.scroogle.org, ` self-updating, market-cap watcher`: [10] www.scroogle.org, ` self-updating, market-cap watcher`: http://www.scroogle.org/bubble.html
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[11] slashdot.org, `Self serving fluff`:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=170320&cid=14198232
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[12] slashdot.org, `orthogonal, slashdot fans! Help me`:
http://slashdot.org/~orthogonal/journal/123472
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[13] slashdot.org, `try another keyboard`:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=170046&cid=14198335
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[14] slashdot.org, `Pale Vegetarians?`:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=170322&cid=1419447
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]

[15] slashdot.org, `If you think thats a hunt. This is a hunt ...`:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=170322&cid=14198637
[Accessed Friday, 9 December 2005]