Krishna, you’re not the only one to notice that my blog has gotten boring. It’s going to be boring for a while. Why? I was talking with Guy Kawasaki about this a few weeks ago. A good blog post takes time. Some of his, he told me, take six hours to do.
Now, most of my posts are faster than that, but lately I’ve had my attention other places. Like, tonight, we filmed another Photowalking with Thomas Hawk. We had spectacular conditions so we went to the Half Moon Bay pumpkin places and got some awesome photos. You’ll hear more over on Thomas’ blog soon, I’m sure. Oh, and his new Moocards are cool. Not quite as cool as a laser-etched metal card that can cut steak, but cooler than 99.9% of the business cards I’ve collected over the years.
A new video will pop up every day or so from now on over on ScobleShow. Here’s our new friend, David Chamberlain, who runs a philanthropic travel agency. Really it’s just an opportunity to share the beach by our house with you. I believe in getting your feet wet while you’re working.
If you’re bored go and check out Doug Kaye’s new Levelator. It’s free and makes your audio levels come out better. I gotta figure out how to use this for my videos.
Tomorrow is a full day too. We’ll be out on San Francisco’s waterfront for Fleet Week and the Blue Angels. If you’re at Bucks at about 10 a.m. we’ll be there for breakfast with my dad. Afterward I have work meeting with Jay and Ryanne who are heading to India this week for a month (they have been doing all the editing on my ScobleShow).
Oh, something totally non boring showed up at the house today: a 30-inch Apple monitor. My new Mac Pro hasn’t arrived yet, though. I decided to go with that rather than a laptop after Dan McVicar told me his made him 10 times more productive (he also has a 17-inch MacBookPro).
Speaking of Dan, yesterday he announced the Late Night Mash. I’m excited about this new show. Dan’s not boring like me.
Of course, I guess I could always get fired like this guy did (did he really get fired for quoting me?) Getting fired always makes you less boring. But, his employer is saying he didn’t get fired for his blog. Not a good move, though, on his employer’s part.
Maybe I should get fired for writing a boring blog, though…
Scobleizer 
Boring? Can’t imagine why! 😉
Nah, I find blogging’s just as slow and difficult a writing process as writing fiction, or any other non-fiction piece.
You need to gather your thoughts, then ensure you don’t brainfart somewhere along the way, and then you’ve got the spelling cops to watch out for, and so on and so forth …
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Boring? Can’t imagine why! 😉
Nah, I find blogging’s just as slow and difficult a writing process as writing fiction, or any other non-fiction piece.
You need to gather your thoughts, then ensure you don’t brainfart somewhere along the way, and then you’ve got the spelling cops to watch out for, and so on and so forth …
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Re your rules of blogging as quoted by the guy who got fired, did you really mean to endorse everything Doc Searls writes because (in contrast with his usual though provoking stuff) his recent foray into marketing was seriously flawed. Nobody has all the answers all the time, not even Doc.
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Re your rules of blogging as quoted by the guy who got fired, did you really mean to endorse everything Doc Searls writes because (in contrast with his usual though provoking stuff) his recent foray into marketing was seriously flawed. Nobody has all the answers all the time, not even Doc.
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Why did you end up going with a Mac anyway Robert? Your work just uses them so they forced your arm? 🙂
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Why did you end up going with a Mac anyway Robert? Your work just uses them so they forced your arm? 🙂
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Not sure if you were kidding about using The Levelator on video, but I do this all the time. It’s not built into The Levelator at the moment, but it’s certainly doable. You need to extract the audio from the video, run it through the Levelator, then replace the original audio in the video. Depending on what tools you’re using this can be very easy. Let me know if you’d like more details.
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Not sure if you were kidding about using The Levelator on video, but I do this all the time. It’s not built into The Levelator at the moment, but it’s certainly doable. You need to extract the audio from the video, run it through the Levelator, then replace the original audio in the video. Depending on what tools you’re using this can be very easy. Let me know if you’d like more details.
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I’m not bored with your blog. You are managing a huge transition from MS Geek blogger to your new gig. You’re finding a new voice and subject matter and you’re doing it in public. The Microsoft Insider note is gone, but there’s a new symphony being written. I don’t mind at all that you’re showing us your sketchbook. Guy is Guy. You’re Scoble. Be Scoble. (although if you want to put more thought into what you say, I won’t object.)
I’m not bored with your show either.
I was on a death-march project when you launched, so I’m just catching up now. Taking the newest and oldest and working my way toward the middle The Hawk Walks and the Jonathan Schwartz interview were riveting. I loved that you gave Schwartz a closeup and let the camera stay there. Congratulations on avoiding gratuitous zooming and reframing. On the other hand, the Chamberlain interview had a great establishing wide shot of the two of you, but I kept hoping you’d get to the closeup. Except for the comedy gag of the waves getting your feet wet, it may as well have been audio only. (Come to think of it, that gag would have played as a sound effect just as well). If you don’t give us the face, why even go video?
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I’m not bored with your blog. You are managing a huge transition from MS Geek blogger to your new gig. You’re finding a new voice and subject matter and you’re doing it in public. The Microsoft Insider note is gone, but there’s a new symphony being written. I don’t mind at all that you’re showing us your sketchbook. Guy is Guy. You’re Scoble. Be Scoble. (although if you want to put more thought into what you say, I won’t object.)
I’m not bored with your show either.
I was on a death-march project when you launched, so I’m just catching up now. Taking the newest and oldest and working my way toward the middle The Hawk Walks and the Jonathan Schwartz interview were riveting. I loved that you gave Schwartz a closeup and let the camera stay there. Congratulations on avoiding gratuitous zooming and reframing. On the other hand, the Chamberlain interview had a great establishing wide shot of the two of you, but I kept hoping you’d get to the closeup. Except for the comedy gag of the waves getting your feet wet, it may as well have been audio only. (Come to think of it, that gag would have played as a sound effect just as well). If you don’t give us the face, why even go video?
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Boring? Read http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2006/04/01/announcement-im-going-to-google/ 🙂
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Boring? Read http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2006/04/01/announcement-im-going-to-google/ 🙂
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Robert,
I’, sorry to have to contradict you, but you really don’t know how to be boring.
In a boring contest, I can beat you every time.
Someone who publicly claims that they are more boring than someone else is already doing something strange, and (providing that claiming to be boring isn’t the only strange thing that they do) that isn’t boring.
You being less or more boring than before is a moot point, because even when you are at your least ‘productive’ in terms of quantity blogging content, you are less boring than any other blogger, simply because you ‘get’ the small stuff.
We hang on your every word.
If that creates an unreasonable amount of pressure for you, I’m afraid it’s your own fault.
Your ‘inner boringness’ is a pathetic, damaged creature, whose every attempt to get out and send us to sleep is a miserable, stumbling failure.
You misrepresent geeks to the extent that we suffer terribly by comparison.
It’s the rest of the blogosphere that is mostly boring (well, OK, TechMeme isn’t).
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Robert,
I’, sorry to have to contradict you, but you really don’t know how to be boring.
In a boring contest, I can beat you every time.
Someone who publicly claims that they are more boring than someone else is already doing something strange, and (providing that claiming to be boring isn’t the only strange thing that they do) that isn’t boring.
You being less or more boring than before is a moot point, because even when you are at your least ‘productive’ in terms of quantity blogging content, you are less boring than any other blogger, simply because you ‘get’ the small stuff.
We hang on your every word.
If that creates an unreasonable amount of pressure for you, I’m afraid it’s your own fault.
Your ‘inner boringness’ is a pathetic, damaged creature, whose every attempt to get out and send us to sleep is a miserable, stumbling failure.
You misrepresent geeks to the extent that we suffer terribly by comparison.
It’s the rest of the blogosphere that is mostly boring (well, OK, TechMeme isn’t).
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Levelator: following up on Bruce Sharpes comment:
Render a WAV file from your timeline – run this WAV file through Levelator – delete original audio track in the timeline and add the new “Levelated” audio. Should be fast and easy. I tested it, and it does help those situations where you need a little extra help.
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Levelator: following up on Bruce Sharpes comment:
Render a WAV file from your timeline – run this WAV file through Levelator – delete original audio track in the timeline and add the new “Levelated” audio. Should be fast and easy. I tested it, and it does help those situations where you need a little extra help.
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Boring? No? More narcissitic? yes.
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Boring? No? More narcissitic? yes.
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Robert –
Boring? No way, but I do agree with Micheal Markman on close ups. Thanks for the tech tips and more. Your viewers are going to love it when you video blog a Cheetah hunt in Botswana!
David
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Robert –
Boring? No way, but I do agree with Micheal Markman on close ups. Thanks for the tech tips and more. Your viewers are going to love it when you video blog a Cheetah hunt in Botswana!
David
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Boring stuff aside, I had a comment from Telstra’s “head blogger”, Rod Bruem says Tom Reynolds “departure” wasn’t due to going Scobleistic on the blog.
Be interesting to know the reason though. Thought Telstra’s corporate blog was a great idea, but wondered how much freedom the writers would have. I gather all the posts are vetted by PR people first though, so…
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Boring stuff aside, I had a comment from Telstra’s “head blogger”, Rod Bruem says Tom Reynolds “departure” wasn’t due to going Scobleistic on the blog.
Be interesting to know the reason though. Thought Telstra’s corporate blog was a great idea, but wondered how much freedom the writers would have. I gather all the posts are vetted by PR people first though, so…
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Well, you write about the same damned thing 9 posts out of 10. After a while, it’s got to become boring, there’s no other option:
“Wow! I was at (cool place if you’re a geek) talking to (geeky person) about (geeky subject). I (media recording technique)’d them and I’ll be posting it really soon. I was (emphatic adjective) by their (emphatic adjective)(noun)s. I think they’re really (verb or gerund) this (trend) far ahead of anyone else.
I also had a chance to play with (non-microsoft/microsoft thing). It’s (nowhere near as good/far better than) any (microsoft/non-microsoft thing), but you’ll have to wait (time period) for it, it’s still in beta. Well, back home to (verb) with (family member).”
I think i just wrote about 80% of your posts dude. At this point, either Podtech.net or this blog is totally redundant.
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Well, you write about the same damned thing 9 posts out of 10. After a while, it’s got to become boring, there’s no other option:
“Wow! I was at (cool place if you’re a geek) talking to (geeky person) about (geeky subject). I (media recording technique)’d them and I’ll be posting it really soon. I was (emphatic adjective) by their (emphatic adjective)(noun)s. I think they’re really (verb or gerund) this (trend) far ahead of anyone else.
I also had a chance to play with (non-microsoft/microsoft thing). It’s (nowhere near as good/far better than) any (microsoft/non-microsoft thing), but you’ll have to wait (time period) for it, it’s still in beta. Well, back home to (verb) with (family member).”
I think i just wrote about 80% of your posts dude. At this point, either Podtech.net or this blog is totally redundant.
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Wow, John, good show…
My contribution, tho not as neat and tight as yours…
I am so super busy, day of [meetings], [dinners], [travels], [conferences] and [too much email]. I did this [geeky thing], I attended this [geeky conference] where I got a chance to [talk with] or [have dinner with] this [geeky company CEO], this is what [geeky thing] they are doing. It’s a new trend. I also talked with this other [geeky insider guy] who said this and that about this [person] and/or [geeky trend]. I should have the video up soon, more ScobleShow segments ahoy. Sorry about missing that [other geeky event]. My life is just impossible you know.
This [software], [hardware], [geeky company], [geeky trend] is [right], [wrong], [right but not blogging, which makes it wrong], or [wrong yet blogging but not blogging the right conversational way], [not really sure as I don’t have all facts, but I won’t let that stop me from commenting].
This [Advertising Agency], [Marketing Firm], [Sponsoring Company] doesn’t have a clue what [Hugh MacLeod], [Jason Calacanis], [Steve Gillmor], [Buzz] or [random geek celebrity of the moment] is doing, they will pay the price.
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Wow, John, good show…
My contribution, tho not as neat and tight as yours…
I am so super busy, day of [meetings], [dinners], [travels], [conferences] and [too much email]. I did this [geeky thing], I attended this [geeky conference] where I got a chance to [talk with] or [have dinner with] this [geeky company CEO], this is what [geeky thing] they are doing. It’s a new trend. I also talked with this other [geeky insider guy] who said this and that about this [person] and/or [geeky trend]. I should have the video up soon, more ScobleShow segments ahoy. Sorry about missing that [other geeky event]. My life is just impossible you know.
This [software], [hardware], [geeky company], [geeky trend] is [right], [wrong], [right but not blogging, which makes it wrong], or [wrong yet blogging but not blogging the right conversational way], [not really sure as I don’t have all facts, but I won’t let that stop me from commenting].
This [Advertising Agency], [Marketing Firm], [Sponsoring Company] doesn’t have a clue what [Hugh MacLeod], [Jason Calacanis], [Steve Gillmor], [Buzz] or [random geek celebrity of the moment] is doing, they will pay the price.
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Crap! I KNEW I’d forgotten something. Thanks for adding in the always – required ego paragraph there Chris.
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Crap! I KNEW I’d forgotten something. Thanks for adding in the always – required ego paragraph there Chris.
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It’s not how much time you spend; it’s what you write about. Reading about going to lunch with Dave Winer is not in and of itself very exciting, especially after 3-4 times. An upcoming podcast is not very exciting, especially when there’s always an upcoming podcast. In fact, it really isn’t particularly interesting that you went to MS Research. Why? Because you don’t talk about what you saw there! It’s like going to BoogerBlog.com & reading “I picked my nose (again) today. That is all.” TELL US WHAT YOU FOUND, NOT JUST THAT YOU FOUND SOMETHING!
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It’s not how much time you spend; it’s what you write about. Reading about going to lunch with Dave Winer is not in and of itself very exciting, especially after 3-4 times. An upcoming podcast is not very exciting, especially when there’s always an upcoming podcast. In fact, it really isn’t particularly interesting that you went to MS Research. Why? Because you don’t talk about what you saw there! It’s like going to BoogerBlog.com & reading “I picked my nose (again) today. That is all.” TELL US WHAT YOU FOUND, NOT JUST THAT YOU FOUND SOMETHING!
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Chris,
Your ‘Scoble template’ nails it.
But the thing of it is, is:
Once you get to know the template, it actually helps.
Look at a newspaper.
Does the fact that it is printed on paper today make it boring because it was also printed on paper yesterday?
Or would the fact that it was printed on triangular paper today make it less boring?
Scoble’s template is the medium.
Get with the message.
In a database, it is the content of the fields that is the most interesting, not the data structure.
There is almost always a smaller and less interesting variety of fields than the diversity of values within them.
“I also talked with this other [geeky insider guy] who said this and that about this [person] and/or [geeky trend].”
I was one of the people who believed that broadcast.com, the entity that Marc Cuban made his billion out of selling, was going to be massively (over?)valued when it sold, but I never blogged about it, because I never had a template as good as Scoble’s.
Maybe you could have made some money if I did.
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Chris,
Your ‘Scoble template’ nails it.
But the thing of it is, is:
Once you get to know the template, it actually helps.
Look at a newspaper.
Does the fact that it is printed on paper today make it boring because it was also printed on paper yesterday?
Or would the fact that it was printed on triangular paper today make it less boring?
Scoble’s template is the medium.
Get with the message.
In a database, it is the content of the fields that is the most interesting, not the data structure.
There is almost always a smaller and less interesting variety of fields than the diversity of values within them.
“I also talked with this other [geeky insider guy] who said this and that about this [person] and/or [geeky trend].”
I was one of the people who believed that broadcast.com, the entity that Marc Cuban made his billion out of selling, was going to be massively (over?)valued when it sold, but I never blogged about it, because I never had a template as good as Scoble’s.
Maybe you could have made some money if I did.
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Research showed me a system that you can control with your hands. Without touching anything. It’s a lot better if I just show you the video.
As for the boring meetings with Dave. That’s laziness on my part. Writing about something more substantial takes time.
391 emails to go. Sigh. That’s really why I suck lately. Too much email.
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Research showed me a system that you can control with your hands. Without touching anything. It’s a lot better if I just show you the video.
As for the boring meetings with Dave. That’s laziness on my part. Writing about something more substantial takes time.
391 emails to go. Sigh. That’s really why I suck lately. Too much email.
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Don’t want to be boring?
Hunt down a guy named Richard Emerson (former Senior VP) and do a video interview. Ask him about the $50 Million investment BayStar made in SCO. And why MS was going to gurantee the investment. Ask him who in the MS elite circle knew about this and when.
I gurantee it will be the most downloaded video interview on the planet. And you won’t be boring blog anymore.
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Don’t want to be boring?
Hunt down a guy named Richard Emerson (former Senior VP) and do a video interview. Ask him about the $50 Million investment BayStar made in SCO. And why MS was going to gurantee the investment. Ask him who in the MS elite circle knew about this and when.
I gurantee it will be the most downloaded video interview on the planet. And you won’t be boring blog anymore.
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Ricky, the template isn’t boring. It’s the repetitive content that’s boring. Robert’s got himself on the “MUST POST CONSTANTLY” wheel, but with no ability to have anything worth posting about. So he describes his day, but even that’s dull, because he describes it the same way every time.
Mettings, tech, famous people or wannabes, tech, blather.
Hell, if he stuck a camera out the window on his drive to work, and talked about the picture, that would be interesting, because it wouldn’t be the same thing he’s said a hundred times before.
But he can’t really do that, because then he runs the risk of losing his “A-List status”.
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Ricky, the template isn’t boring. It’s the repetitive content that’s boring. Robert’s got himself on the “MUST POST CONSTANTLY” wheel, but with no ability to have anything worth posting about. So he describes his day, but even that’s dull, because he describes it the same way every time.
Mettings, tech, famous people or wannabes, tech, blather.
Hell, if he stuck a camera out the window on his drive to work, and talked about the picture, that would be interesting, because it wouldn’t be the same thing he’s said a hundred times before.
But he can’t really do that, because then he runs the risk of losing his “A-List status”.
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boring? No Robert you are not. Of course, with 1.65 billion going to You Tube today, we are all less than interesting.
Thanks for the shoutout. It is my goal to take the onine video and the interaction that comes with it out to the next ring or two of users.
I love this form of communication, and have been building out a community with the show. That is getting even more interesting. The creatives that are attractive to the site will be happy as we progress. It is our goal to make the site and the show a place where filmmakers and musicians meet, where comedians can talk with artists, where techs can meet dancers.
Creation is the key, and we will set guidelines that will include it is your original material that you post. That should keep us under Google’s radar for a while.
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boring? No Robert you are not. Of course, with 1.65 billion going to You Tube today, we are all less than interesting.
Thanks for the shoutout. It is my goal to take the onine video and the interaction that comes with it out to the next ring or two of users.
I love this form of communication, and have been building out a community with the show. That is getting even more interesting. The creatives that are attractive to the site will be happy as we progress. It is our goal to make the site and the show a place where filmmakers and musicians meet, where comedians can talk with artists, where techs can meet dancers.
Creation is the key, and we will set guidelines that will include it is your original material that you post. That should keep us under Google’s radar for a while.
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Well, sheesh. I thought I was boring because I never get to go anywhere and see cool tech and network, and now I’m reading that Scoble is boring because he DOES get to go places and meet people? I’d just freaking give up right now if I didn’t like seeing my own words in print (and Ink)!
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Well, sheesh. I thought I was boring because I never get to go anywhere and see cool tech and network, and now I’m reading that Scoble is boring because he DOES get to go places and meet people? I’d just freaking give up right now if I didn’t like seeing my own words in print (and Ink)!
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Boring? Robert isn’t boring. Niel from Google says that Robert isn’t boring. I was talking with Hans the other day and he said that Robert was just traveling a lot lately. Sam said that Robert has been a little boring but he should break out of it soon. Bill from Seagate saw Robert driving down the highway talking on the phone and said that wasn’t boring. Kevin is still annoyed that Robert won’t be at his wedding and says Robert often blogs from the mens room. Dave from the VC firm said that if you have ever seen Robert eat you know he’s anything but boring. Jose the Guard at Microsoft said he’s seen Robert more since he quit than when he worked there; and that he definitely was not boring (and often has trouble producing his ID). I don’t know. What do you think?
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Boring? Robert isn’t boring. Niel from Google says that Robert isn’t boring. I was talking with Hans the other day and he said that Robert was just traveling a lot lately. Sam said that Robert has been a little boring but he should break out of it soon. Bill from Seagate saw Robert driving down the highway talking on the phone and said that wasn’t boring. Kevin is still annoyed that Robert won’t be at his wedding and says Robert often blogs from the mens room. Dave from the VC firm said that if you have ever seen Robert eat you know he’s anything but boring. Jose the Guard at Microsoft said he’s seen Robert more since he quit than when he worked there; and that he definitely was not boring (and often has trouble producing his ID). I don’t know. What do you think?
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John, the point is that in amongst whatever makes Scoble boring for you, there is enough stuff (that doesn’t bore you) to make you want to be here and put in comments and respond to comments about your comments.
Even if absolutely everything Scoble says in his postings bores you, the site as a whole includes the comments, which are enough to provide you with sufficient ‘not boring enough to stop you coming back’ and ‘not boring enough to stop you commenting’ material for you to not be completely bored.
You are an indispensable part of what makes this site not boring, even for you.
You, like LayZ and Chris Coulter, are part of the provocative grit that makes Soble’s site worth me and many others coming back to check it out regularly.
Some of the least boring stuff he writes, he writes because of you, his turbulent muses.
Oh, and when you make him lose his temper, that is when he really is at his least interesting, but it is also when you get him the most traffic.
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John, the point is that in amongst whatever makes Scoble boring for you, there is enough stuff (that doesn’t bore you) to make you want to be here and put in comments and respond to comments about your comments.
Even if absolutely everything Scoble says in his postings bores you, the site as a whole includes the comments, which are enough to provide you with sufficient ‘not boring enough to stop you coming back’ and ‘not boring enough to stop you commenting’ material for you to not be completely bored.
You are an indispensable part of what makes this site not boring, even for you.
You, like LayZ and Chris Coulter, are part of the provocative grit that makes Soble’s site worth me and many others coming back to check it out regularly.
Some of the least boring stuff he writes, he writes because of you, his turbulent muses.
Oh, and when you make him lose his temper, that is when he really is at his least interesting, but it is also when you get him the most traffic.
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“Hell, if he stuck a camera out the window on his drive to work, and talked about the picture”
He did that once! Well, it wasn’t the drive to work, but it was driving around in Len Pryor’s car…seriously. And it was actually interesting, but I can’t remember why (maybe that it was because it was before Channel 9 went to 50 minute videos)
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“Hell, if he stuck a camera out the window on his drive to work, and talked about the picture”
He did that once! Well, it wasn’t the drive to work, but it was driving around in Len Pryor’s car…seriously. And it was actually interesting, but I can’t remember why (maybe that it was because it was before Channel 9 went to 50 minute videos)
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Robert, how is the 30″ ? Currently using my 23″ but VERY tempted to get the 30″ when we get our home office sorted out 🙂
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Robert, how is the 30″ ? Currently using my 23″ but VERY tempted to get the 30″ when we get our home office sorted out 🙂
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