This is what a UMPC will be able to do for you. I want! at Josh Bancroft’s TinyScreenfuls.com

This is what a UMPC will be able to do for you. I want!

Published

on April 13, 2007

Check out this video (by Intel) about the potential future of how an ultramobile device, like a UMPC, could work for you in your life. Sure, this is all “vision”, and future stuff, but it’s what we’re working towards, what we’re trying to make happen. At IDF Beijing next week, Intel is going to take the wraps off of the 2nd gen Ultra Mobile PCs. I haven’t seen or heard any details about it other than what’s been publicly available (I need to cultivate better friends in the Ultra Mobile group!). But it’s a step towards the kind of thing that you see in the video.

Check it out. Some parts of it are kind of hokey, and some can be done today, but I love to think about what cool new stuff I’ll be able to do with new gadgets. Sure, I love gadgets just for themselves - who doesn’t love a new toy? But there’s real, life-changing benefit to them, too.

What do you wish technology could do for you in the coming year?

4 Response to “This is what a UMPC will be able to do for you. I want!”

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1 victor solis
April 19, 2007 at 5:23 pm

why doesnt this stuff exist now? i want one!

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@ahockley Of course you’ve seen more downtime and errors from Twitter than identi.ca. They’ve been around, what, a day and a half? #
@ahockley What’s going to happen when identi.ca has to scale to the size and number of users that Twitter has? If it’s slow and shaky now… #
@ahockley And identi.ca doesn’t even have all of its features turned on yet! They’re missing replies, SMS, an API, and a ton of other stuff. #
@ahockley (I’ve been reading and posting these replies from FriendFeed. Here, Twitter is fast and stable. FF IS the best Twitter client. #
At the Hillsboro 4th of July parade. I’m not a parade guy (well, I’m not a “sit in a crowd in the sun” guy) but the kids love it. #
Why do people bring dogs to parades? The sheer number of small children makes it… problematic - for everyone. #
Jesse Helms died? I don’t have an opinion, but that makes MC Hawking’s song “Why Won’t Jesse Helms Just Hurry Up And Die” outdated. #
@motherpopper I don’t think it starts until 10. Hop on the MAX, get off at Hillsboro TC, walk a block north, et violá! #
@blath early? We’ve been sitting here since 8:30. #
I feel like I missed out on punk. Probably due to growing up in Utah, where there was only metal and country. #

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That tubes post I hoped to get up today? Not going to happen. Tomorrow? Likely. Did get a Bit Stories episode recorded and edited w @bljarv. #
Playing with Google Talk for the iPhone: http://google.com/talk. About what you’d expect for a web-based GTalk client. But still very cool! #
Big ole’ cloudburst in Beaverton/Hillsboro. Still muggy, didn’t cool it down much. #pdxtst #
People on the next street over (their house backs to mine) have been doing loud illegal fireworks for an hour. In a dense residential area. #
I’ve called non-emerg dispatch twice, but they say “it’s the 4th weekend, people are going to be doing that, even though it bugs you and me” #
Uh, it’s Wednesday night, the 2nd? I can’t believe how rude and inconsiderate people are. My kids are trying to sleep. :-\ #
Not to mention it’s illegal and dangerous. Guess I’ll call back if the asshats set something on fire. #
Ooh, middle-of-the-night lightning and thunder. Good thing my kids are already asleep in my room (cause its the only air conditioned one). #
identi.ca is broken this morning. Redirects to http://hewitt.controlezvous.ca/, which is dead. That didn’t take long. Not even a Fail Whale! #
@bljarv and I are on a roll! New episode of the Bit Stories show is up. This week: Moblin, Linux, and NetMeeting: http://tinyurl.com/4o4ubp #
@scbrowning She was bit by a BAT!? Yikes. Keep an eye out for any signs of this: http://tinyurl.com/5g7aee #
@ahockley If more of your tweeps were using identi.ca, they would have abandoned their own tweeps to do so. Go where your tweeps are! #
Why did identi.ca change it’s URL to hewitt.whatever? Are they going to do that a lot? I have to reauth with OpenID every time they do. #
And now that I’m logged in to identi.ca, I can’t subscribe to people until I reload their page AFTER I’ve logged in. Liking it less and less #
Top end 1.8GHz SSD MacBook Air just got a $500 price drop: http://tinyurl.com/45jbha (hat tip to @ejacqui). Bet people who paid $999 are mad #
I wonder how long it will be until an iPhone 3G tethering hack appears? It is possible now with EDGE, but 3G is fast enough to be worth it. #
At lunch with coworkers at Standords. @artigupta is going on sabbatical. We’ll miss her! #
Sweet! Friend at work who used to live in Switzerland and work with CERN just gave me a cool CERN mousepad. “Where the Web was born.” #
@clint @ejacqui Hey, when did Ars get a full text feed (http://arstechnica.com/everything.rssx)? Awesome! Are there any more? #
Hey, cool! I just went to http://slideshare.net, and guess what’s “Featured” on the front page? Ignite Portland! #
@mrkurt Blame @clint! That’s where I found it! Seriously, though, sorry if I caused you any heartburn… #
@ahockley Why leave Twitter, when there’s not a better place to go? Identi.ca isn’t there yet, by a LONG shot. It’s unproven, and shaky. #
@ahockley I’ve been using Twitter since July of 2006 - for two years. And even considering their recent problems, yes, I call it proven. #
@ahockley Funny, I’ve had the opposite experience. Twitter has been fine for me, but I’ve had nothing but problems with identi.ca. #

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Got an awesome idea for a blog post I’m going to try to write up today. I love how easily ideas flow in the early morning, half-awake. #
@SarahCofer I think you’re referring to profilactic.com. It’s a cool service, but right now, I’d recommend FriendFeed for the same purpose. #
To my Twitter followers: You really should check out FriendFeed, to hedge your bets against the times Twitter is down. #
Friend does everything Twitter does (minus SMS), and so much more! I’m http://friendfeed.com/jabancroft. Come follow me there! #
@jkwatson Re: FriendFeed noise - you can mute/hide people and types of updates you don’t want. And when has Twitter IM ever worked? #
Ii still love Twitter. My network here is huge. But it breaks my heart that it’s gotten so unusable. And FriendFeed really IS a superset. #
@jkwatson Yeah, I think you nailed the problem. Twitter isn’t fulfilling my Twitter needs anymore, either. #
@marcuspat You’re right, Twitter isn’t going away. And I’m not going to stop using it. It’s going to remain my microposter of choice. But… #
I’m taking a wider, tubes-based approach. If we take the conversation to the FF level, we can still interact while Twitter’s down. #
I hope to have a post up later today about how I use various “tubes”, like Twitter, to post things, and use FF as a place to read/discuss. #
@raster Yes, Twitter’s simplicity can be seen as a feature. So could the Fail Whale. Twitter is SUPER simple then! #
I staked my claim: http://identi.ca. The site is already slow from the exodus of Twitter people. I still encourage you to use FriendFeed. #
Oops. Meant that I’m http://identi.ca/jabancroft. I’d still rather you subscribe to me on FriendFeed, so it doesn’t matter what tube I use. #
Finding identi.ca people to subscribe to by searching on FriendFeed to see who tweeted that they’re on identi.ca now. And tweeting about it. #
@exprexxo @blogan @jerry_makare Sorry I missed that Intelpedia meeting. I was recording a Bit Stories podcast with @bljarv and lost track. #
@michaelbiven I think you can opt out of Creative Commons on identi.ca, but I can’t seem to find the option. Maybe at signup time? #
@jkwatson Look for the “hide” link next to items on FriendFeed. Only works on the website, not the iPhone version or fftogo.com. #
Interesting that I’m getting new Twitter followers at about the same rate as I’m getting new identi.ca followers (maybe 10 or so today). #

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So, iPhone people, now that launch day details are out (8 AM on 7/11), the question is: Line up, or no? #
I predict plenty of iPhone supply, so it won’t be necessary to line up to get one, but I’m considering it as a fun, social, geek experience. #
@mattg I always have stuff to read with me - that’s what my Kindle and iPhone are for! #
Watching the AT&T video walkthroughs of the activation process for existing and new iPhone owners: http://tinyurl.com/6l3pwb #
@samgrover Re: the Intel discount working on iPhones now, I don’t know. It would be nice, but I don’t think it’ll happen… #
@jmoriarty I’ve existed at Intel without IT support for years. To me they just provide infrastructure (net, email, power). That’s just me. #
@jmoriarty I have no idea how IT accounts for “DIY” people like me. Ideally, I should cost less for them to support. Wonder how that works? #
@rachelbancroft Au contraire! Your Birks are just the right personal “I’m from Eugene” touch in your “suburban soccer mom” image. #
@cecilwalker Oh, I know IT does all those things (helpdesk, custom apps, etc.). I was in Intel IT for years. I just don’t use any of them #
@jmoriarty re: IT innovation being driven by customers pushing on them, even though their focus is stability - that sounds about right. #
@reidab Yes, the Ignite Portland 3 slides are on SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/igniteportland/slideshows #
Microsoft Remote Desktop 2.0 for Mac has been released (been using the beta of this useful app for a while): http://tinyurl.com/63ty3o #
I just had an epiphany! Want to know the REAL reason Intel isn’t deploying Vista? Because NetMeeting is no longer available. #
@Jmartens Silicon wafers are round because they’re created from big columns of silicon that are sliced into wafers http://tinyurl.com/6hr835 #
@Jmartens Go read the comments to that old blog post I linked - they give great reasons why silicon wafers are not square. #
@Jmartens And I just replied to your comment on the 18 month old post on my blog, with hopefully a little more explanation. #
@rodfather Welcome to the FriendFeed club! “One of us! One of us!” #
Bummed I won’t make it to the Legion of Talk tonight with @garyvee, but I know LoT has a hit on their hands. Have fun, everyone! #
Just hacked the new and improved Google Site Search into my blog, http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com. Lemme know if it broke anything. #

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@verso I’m telling ya, that loser Twitter’s no good for you. Keep your options open, come to the FriendFeed party. The conversation goes on! #
@rgunjan Which marketing book? Hope it wasn’t one I recommended! #
@rgunjan OK, phew. Feel free to tell me if my book recommendations ever suck, so I can reconsider recommending them! #
No way! Brian, my longtime friend, podcast co-host, and fellow blogger (umpcgeek.com) has finally joined Twitter! @bljarv Welcome, Brian! #
@marusin I was pushing @bljarv hard on both Twitter and FriendFeed last week, on and off the show. I’m sure he’ll join FF soon! #
@shadowbottle Use summize.com, with the parameter “from:yourtwittername” to search your own tweets. #
@donpdonp I haven’t used SocialThing very much, but IME, it seems like a less-featured FriendFeed. Anyone know what makes it special? #
@jmartens The Strands alpha is pretty cool, but as of now, it lacks social gravity for me: not enough of my network is there yet. #
Yay! Now Brian’s on FriendFeed, too. Go subscribe to him! http://friendfeed.com/bljarv #
Got my SHO back from the shop today. Coolant leak fixed, O2 sensors and temp sending unit replaced, which should help my MPG a LOT. #
I wonder how long it’s going to be until people stop roving through the new Intel JF1 offices, talking loudly, as if they were tour guides? #
Mac OS X 10.5.4 is out. Anyone install it yet? I’m going to give it a try. Warn me if you had a bad experience! #
Shozu for iPhone is coming (great app to upload photos to tons of photo services like Flickr)? Do want! http://tinyurl.com/5g2byp #
Trying out Alert Thingy (integrated Twitter/FriendFeed client) again, now that I’m using FriendFeed more. Is it better than Twhirl? We’l … #
Why did Twhirl just Favorite a whole screen full of Tweets? And continue to do so for incoming tweets? #
Oh. The “star” in Twhirl doesn’t mean “Favorited”, like it does in the rest of the world. It means “unread”. Of course… :-/ #
And since Twhirl does Twitter AND FriendFeed, why can’t I get them in a unified view, a la Alert Thingy? With Twitter de-duping, a la same? #
@bljarv Twhirl and Alert Thingy are both cross platform, since they run on Adobe AIR. I’m trying both how, as a way to integrate FF better. #
Now trying a Fluid “site specific browser” for FriendFeed, using the Google Gadget URL, instead of Twhirl or Alert Thingy. Not bad so far. #
@jmoriarty I’m doing lots of experimenting to see where FriendFeed fits into my information lifestyle. Will share the results, for sure! #
FriendFeed just launched an iPhone interface! http://friendfeed.com/iphone. Playing with it now, but so far, it is Teh Hot. #
@mattg You’re right. You can use either http://friendfeed.com/i, or http://friendfeed.com/iphone/ (with the trailing slash). Nice catch! #
You will also automatically get redirected to the iPhone interface if you go to friendfeed.com on an iPhone. Other URLs are for other brwsrs #
At the Green Dragon, early, for the LoT board meeting. Anyone else here yet? #
Great Legion of Tech strategy meeting tonight, talking about “what we want to be when we grow up”. My first time at the Green Dragon, too. #
The sunset was really interesting tonight, with the haze. The sun hung fat and orange above the horizon. #

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So, how long before we have a really good FriendFeed app for the iPhone? I mean, I love Twitterrific and all, but FF has become essential. #
Hey! I just noticed I passed my 2000th post on TinyScreenfuls.com a few days ago. Look, a milestone! #
My blog, TinyScreenfuls.com, will turn 5 years old in a couple of months. Barely younger than my oldest daughter. That’s weird. #
Let’s see… 2000 posts over about 5 years = average of more than 1 post per day. Lately my daily Twitter digest has been padding that, tho. #
@sarahcofer I do my lifestream (joshbancroft.com) and my linkblog (linkblog.joshbancroft.com) using http://soup.io #
Hey Portland - get ready. Doppler radar at wund.com shows a BIG thunderstorm coming. Flashes and rumbles out here already. Power flickered. #
I love thunderstorms. Wish we had more of them in Oregon, for as much as it rains here. #
Stormwatching is a different experience when I can watch live Doppler radar to see where the storm is, and get live updates from Twitter. #
All from my iPhone, while sitting on the porch and watching the storm the old fashioned way. THIS is why I love technology! #
@jmartens As I understand PersonalTelco, they don’t necessarily pay for all of the hotspots, but recruit volunteers to host/create them, too #
@jmartens no, you can volunteer to be a node for PersonalTelco. They advocate that. They don’t just list any old hotspot. Growing a network. #
@jmartens for example, the free wifi at Powell’s and Cedar Hills Crossing mall in Bvtn? That’s PersonalTelco. #
@jmartens Have you read Doctorow’s “Someone Comes to Town…”? A volunteer-based free wifi network like the one in the book is their goal. #

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Psst! Hey, want to know a secret? Intel skipped over Windows ME, too! #
Was all excited to go see Wall-E tonight, but @rachelbancroft said she doesn’t really want to. Totally jealous of everyone who goes. #
OH: “No, our computer can’t possibly have a virus. We use Windows Vista. VISTA!” #
Recorded an episode of Bit Stories with Brian earlier, listening/editing/writing show notes now. #
@kellyrfeller Thanks! It was a fun interview. I love to talk about my Kindle! I’ll blog the whole text of it soon. I wrote lots more! #
@Jerry_Makare Yay! Welcome to FriendFeed, Jerry! Have fun, and show me anything cool you find! #
Hey, imagine that! I got this weeks episode of Bit Stories edited, annotated, uploaded, and out the door! Yay! http://tinyurl.com/5ldc45 #

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Breakfast of Champions: free Mt Dew from Intel, and a bag of bulk Sour Patch Kids from WinCo. Ah, sugar; my muse, my enemy, my fuel… #
@Jerry_Makare Thanks, I think, for the Mario Batali comparison. But just so everyone knows, he swiped the orange Crocs thing from me! #
Oops. I had accidentally posted that last logged in as @pulseofintel. That’s what I get for having multiple Twitter personas. #
Well, it only took a day for the “Intel says no to Windows Vista” news to spread ALL OVER Twitter and FriendFeed. #
@lightingdiva Do it. You won’t regret switching. You can even run Windows (Vista or XP) in a virtual machine if you *really( need it. #
@banannie Another reason I don’t like Plurk. The term “Plurk-up” is just GROSS. #
@Jerry_Makare I know who Mario is. I just have a make believe grudge against him for biting my “orange Crocs” style. #
I’m hungry. No car today (mine’s still in the shop), and I’m still boycotting the Intel cafeterias. Guess that means Cup Noodles again! #
Booking my travel/hotel for SIGGRAPH2008 in L.A. in August. #
@davechen Intel’s doing a blogger meetup at SIGGRAPH, to show off some cool new Larrabee stuff. Wanna come? #
@JoshProStar No, it’s not possible to Twitter too much. Just look at my tweet count. Or @scobleizer’s. #
@davechen It’s on the 12th, at the conference. Email me (joshua.bancroft AT intel.com) and I’ll get you on the list, send details, etc. #
@jezlyn Kindle tip: use the “sleep” mode to lock keys (cool photos!). Get free books from manybooks.net, feedbooks, Creative Commons, etc. #
@marusin You bought a Kindle? Again? I knew you couldn’t stay away for long. Welcome (back) to the club! #
@blath re: lunch delivery it doesn’t work so well out in the suburbs, at a giant company’s campus. Not many options, hard to give driections #
@blath but if I’m going to keep up my Intel cafe boycott, I should probably look into delivery options. Thanks for the idea! #
@SarahCofer you’re looking for something to record a video stream? There are some apps that do that. Or a screen recorder app like CamStudio #
@SarahCofer link to CamStudio (free, open source Windows screen recording software): http://camstudio.org. Takes some experimentation. #
@bobduffy I don’t know what book @mediumtall referred to, but if there’s one book of principles to build a community on, it’s Cluetrain. #
@bobduffy Subject to Change sounds interesting. I’ll have to check it out (even more likely if they have a Kindle version!) Thanks! #
@kegill @SarahCofer yes, SnapzPro is a good screen recorder for Mac. I use and love iShowU ($20), and people RAVE about ScreenFlow ($99). #
@verso You’re getting Twitter 503 errors because too many people in Portland are tweeting, and summoning the Failwhale. #
Toying around with the idea of turning my iPhone 1.0 into my house’s webserver/SSH tunnel after I get an iPhone 3G. Geek plusity plus! #
@ahockley I am. Are you the gatekeeper? #
Just created a profile for myself on Whoisi, because @davewiner said all the cool kids were doing it. http://whoisi.com/p/759 #
@blath Yeah, I’m not sure how whoisi will handle malicious/unwanted edits. Seems open like a wiki, maybe the same community quality model? #

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Welcome another really smart Intel person to Twitter - @JoshProStar. He runs the Open Port vPro Expert Center: http://tinyurl.com/4xnbrr #
Someone tell @JoshProStar (I can’t D him yet) that he can find more Intel people to follow by looking at who @pulseofintel follows. #
@jmoriarty Thou shalt leave no beehive un-kicked, man. Beehives are EEVIL. #
Huh. FluidApp (http://fluidapp.com/) is actually pretty cool (build site-specific browser “widgets”). Going to experiment with it. #
Guess what? I’m reading the internal Intel blogs again. Had to install FeedDemon in my Windows VM, since the feed won’t work otherwise. #
So, my Intel Twitter peers, what are the good internal feeds I should subscribe to (besides the main blog feed). D me or email me with ideas #
@bobduffy Those are the external feeds, right? I’ve got all of those (but that’s a cool pipe - thanks for sharing! #
Excellent post from @kenekaplan on what the “Intel Insiders” program is and isn’t about. Thanks, Ken! http://tinyurl.com/6yak3k #
Enjoying some Cup Noodles for lunch, in honor of @grigs’s awesome #ip3 presentation: http://tinyurl.com/3hftvt #
Wha? My buttons/links to “Like” and “Comment” something in FriendFeed just disappeared. Is FF getting flaky like Twitter? I just got here! #
@turoczy Who are you talking to? Intel hearts Macs, man! I’ve had one as my main Intel machine for almost 2 years. #
Oh, dear. I’m digging around in the documentation for the FriendFeed and Twitter APIs. Mulling a Google App Engine app to sync contacts… #
@donpdonp I only ever found one Windows .exe that doesn’t work at all. Now, if only I knew JSON! Should be easy to diff friends lists… #
@turoczy In that case, I’d like to lobby to have my Intel salary increased by “$0″. #
Ruh roh! The NYTimes picked up on the fact that Intel decided NOT to deploy Windows Vista, but stick with XP. http://tinyurl.com/4md6rk #
@LeStew Go read the article. I’m not going to offer my opinion on Vista. I don’t speak for my employer, et cetera, et cetera… #
Are you a javascript person? @juliejulie sends word that her husband, @nosredna, launched a blog for JS developers http://tinyurl.com/4zsfcf #
Just commiserated on the phone with @britopian about internal communications hurdles, silos, and the vagaries and challenges of life @ Intel #
@turoczy I would say that “viral passalong” is a term from the Department of Public Health and Safety. #
@lightingdiva It will be interesting to see what the longer term consequences of skipping Vista are. ‘Course, I skipped Vista for a Mac. #

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Driving Rachel’s car today, used to be our only car (2002 Subaru WRX wagon). Every time I drive it I’m reminded of how much I love it. #
@marccanter4real Tell FriendFeed to import your Twitter, then it’s automatically in both places. #
I think FriendFeed has developed enough social gravity in my world that I’m going to start paying more than sporadic attention to it. #
I’ve let FriendFeed raid my Gmail contacts to find people, but I’m still missing some. Is there a way to let it raid Twitter contacts? #
I wish there was a way on FriendFeed to track what I’ve already read, and what’s new. #
@mattg What FriendFeed, um, feed do you subscribe to? Everything from all of your friends? Firehose! What filtering do you use? #
Just had to replace the batteries in my Apple Wireless Keyboard (the slim aluminum one) for the first time since I got it in February. #
I really, really need a way to tell FriendFeed to add the 470 people I follow on Twitter. Diff-ing the list by hand is killing me… #
@mnology Thanks for the tip. FF says that app is broken, and it’s Windows only, but thanks for thinking of me. Oh, I’m following you now. #
@mnology More like “you bank on the Twitter API, you lose.” #
And of course, it’s all tied in to my linkblog, FriendFeed, Facebook, etc. I’m all about connecting stuff together today! Also, Hype Machine #
So apparently Intel is launching some big “Brand Ambassador”/blogger thing. I’m hearing about it first from Twitter. See anything broken? #
@chrisheuer How come I’m hearing about this Intel blogger thing from my Summize/Twitter search feeds? Seems like a communication FAIL. #
Let me amend. I’m not claiming that Intel should advise me of everything it does in “social media”. But why leave employees out of it? #
Or maybe it was just me, and all the other Intel employees that are active in this stuff were clued in. In which case, I’ll shut up and cry. #
@jmoriarty Yeah, I guess S&M has gotten widespread enough at Intel that I can’t keep up with all of it. BTW, social media = S&M from now on! #
Am I the last person to discover http://fftogo.com, an awesome mobile interface for FriendFeed? It’s beautiful on the iPhone. Bookmarked! #
Just came across something hilariously ironic about Intel that I don’t think I can blog externally. Might move me to post internally. #
@turoczy Interesting that you import your tweets into FriendFeed via the Twitter RSS feed, instead of the API. Is there a reason/advantage? #
Today has been a very interesting day. FriendFeed has sucked me in, big time. Crack-like rush to the brain, compulsive checking, and all. #
More info on the “Intel insiders”: http://tinyurl.com/5wanh5. It was a good idea when I suggested it 2+ years ago, too. No sour grapes here! #
I suggested an “ambassadors” program to the guy who does Intel’s ad buys in early 2006. I guess I’m glad they finally implemented it. #
In case you were wondering, I did, in fact, come up with every good internet idea Intel has ever had, and will take credit for same. #
@intelinsider I’m a little worried at the lack of transparency. How bout a post explaining it, and a list of bloggers so we can follow them? #
@JF10 What makes you say Ambassador programs suck? Honest question - I’d like to know why. #
@gwalter Dude, Google bought Jaiku in Oct. of last year: http://tinyurl.com/2xny52 I don’t go to their website often, either, but dang! #
@chartier How will we be able to identify the second printing of @applehacks (besides your bio being there)? I want to get the right one. #
Just spent HOURS adding people I follow on Twitter to FriendFeed. BY HAND. There are still gaps. That sucked. Data Portability, anyone? #

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