Yes friends, I’m turning 29 and I’ve decided to go work for The Man. In all actuality, I’ve been mulling over such a move for some time, considering a number of compelling opportunities for my next step. After reviewing my options — in light of the progress I’ve made so far and my familiarity and … Continue reading "Happy birthday to me! I’m joining Google"| Factory Joe
When I left Flock in 2006, I blogged the occasion, having helped start the company by contributing a vision for what I thought the web needed: a social browser. When I was laid off from Vidoop last month, I didn’t so much as tweet about it. The circumstances were different this time. But because the … Continue reading "The Fall of Vidoop"| Factory Joe
Michael Moore is a polarizing figure with a mild-mannered way of suggesting some rather far-fetched, ultra-liberal ideas. I find myself often feeling swayed by his emphaticness but more often than not, unconvinced by the logic of his arguments. That said, he does from time to time incite a good deal of discourse and discussion, and … Continue reading "Michael Moore’s advice to Obama on General Motors"| Factory Joe
Stowe Boyd launched Microsyntax.org this morning and announced that I will be the first member of his advisory board. Stowe and I have batted around a number of ideas for making posts on Twitter contain more information than what is superficially presented, and this new effort should create a space in which ideas, research, proposals … Continue reading "Stowe Boyd launches Microsyntax.org"| Factory Joe
I was in Europe for the past week and half, ending up in Leuven, Belgium to speak at the Twiist.be conference. The topic of my talk was “The Open, Social Web.” (PDF) http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayerd.swf?doc=thedisoproject-090515121321-phpapp02&rel=0&stripped_title=the-open-social-web At first I struggled to develop a compelling or sensible narrative for the talk — as there is so much to it … Continue reading "The open, social web"| Factory Joe
It dawned on me recently that, not only are we in a period of great change and transformation, but that those of us who have been working on the web to make it a more social and humane place have only barely begun the process of taking the “personality-ization” (not “personalization”) and connectedness that we … Continue reading "Comixology and the future of connected commerce"| Factory Joe
I’d originally intended to respond to Joshua Schacter’s post about URL shorteners and how they’re merely the tip of the data iceberg, but since I missed that debate, Google has fortuitously plied me with an even better example by releasing custom profile URLs today. My point is to reiterate one of Tim O’Reilly’s ever-prescient admonishments … Continue reading "Google Profiles, namespace lock-in & social search"| Factory Joe
Let me state the problem plainly: in order to provide better service, it helps to know more about your customer, so that you can more effectively anticipate and meet her needs. But, pray tell, how do you learn about or solicit such information over the course of your first interaction? Moreover, how do you go … Continue reading "Portable Profiles & Preferences on the Citizen-Centric Web"| Factory Joe
Prompted by posts by Randy Reddig and Tony Stubblebine and a conversation with Elliott Kember, I wanted to address, yet again, the big fat stinking elephant in the room: OpenID usability and the paradox of choice. Elliott proposed a pretty clear picture of what he thinks OpenID should look like on StackOverflow, given the relative … Continue reading "Does OpenID need to be hard?"| Factory Joe
I’ll be attending the upcoming Internet Identity Workshop (IIW) May 18-20, 2009 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. The event started in 2005 and has become a staple …| Factory Joe
