The Chris Pirillo Show

Could you Live Without Google?

chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo) — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:00:30 +0000

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Do you use Google? Could you get along without it for a week? I tried it, and dubbed it Google Fasting. There’s no way I could do that again. It was really tough, believe it or not. I got an email from Mike recently, that raised a thought-provoking question about Google’s power.

Do you feel the power of Google is good for the Internet? With one search engine being used so often, there becomes a potential for abuse. As we become a society who gets our news and history over the Internet, is Google in a position to filter what we know and how much? I read awhile back that a pre-condition of China using Google was that search results could not return any information about the Tiananmen Square incident. More recently, China blocked access to YouTube in the wake of a Tibetan protests. If governments and search engines can weild such power over the Internet, they can effectively remake history, and shape issues of the day.

It’s interesting: we’re at this crossroads. Forever, we’ve lived in a world that had borders. The Internet is a world that has no borders. When we have such an open society on the Internet and try to get that to fit inside existing infrastructures… it’s really scary in a way. It’s potential for anarchy, and breaking down borders. I can guarantee people in power are scared, both in business and in government.

What happens when we transcend our physical presence to connect with other people? Again, I’m telling you… we’re at a crossroads between hierarchy and no hierarchy. Does Google have the potential to limit what we see? Certainly they do. However, if they did something new and open would crop up. I don’t see Google doing anything like that.

If we elevate Google to the position where we can’t live without them, we run the risk of letting them run us. The Internet is pretty big though. Google hasn’t been around forever. Eventually, something could even replace Google. It’s the ebb and flow and ideas of human identity and connections.

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. How do you define society? How do you see this playing out? How do you see us moving beyond today?

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How and Where do you Save Files?

chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo) — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:36:09 +0000

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Where do you save your files? Do you have any particular folder on your computer? Or… are you one of those people who forgets to save their work? The bottom line is, I want to know how and where you save files. I have a top five here from Nick, to give you some tips on where and how to save your files.

Tip 1 Always finish a file you save with 001 at the end of the file name. Then, when you make any changes, save the next version as

002, and so on. This way, you create a revisioning system in case anything ever happens and you need to revert.

Tip 2 Always save your file in the right folder, especially if you’re working on a specific project. Save all work related to this in one particular folder, and even use SubFolders. You can also use a desktop search tool, such as Copernic Desktop Search.

Tip 3 No matter what you’re doing, save often. For faster saving, use CTRL + S to save your files.

Tip 4 Back up important files. Copy them onto an external hard drive, flash drive, or an external website.

Tip 5 Always save to the correct file type. For example, with a simple Photoshop file, save it as a .jpg or .png. Keep in mind what you’ll be using the file for in the future when you choose your file extension.

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Do you Really Want to Win this PC?

chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo) — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:21:26 +0000

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I’m going to be giving away the HP Dragon Notebook very soon… May 29th to be exact. This notebook is something you definitely want to have. Make sure you follow the rules for this giveaway, or you’ll be crying when you aren’t eligible!

Make sure you’re subscribed to my YouTube account, come hang out in our chat room (you must be present to win, and I’m not announcing the time ahead of time!), and leave as many GOOD comments on my blog as you can between now and the drawing. Any insipid or inappropriate comments will be deleted daily, and you won’t be eligible to win. A good comment shows you have read the post, and are contributing to the discussion.

That’s all there is to it. What are you waiting for? Get to commenting!

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Where do you go to Discuss Art Online?

chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo) — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:47:19 +0000

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My brother Adam is an artist, who is very passionate about art of all kinds. He has a live stream now. So if you’re into art or even music, why not drop by and visit him? You may even catch him live at work on a painting.

YOU all got him into this live streaming business. I recently visited Adam in Iowa for a few days, and streamed live from his living room. He became addicted quite easily. He loved the interaction with all of you, so thank you for that! Take it easy on him though. He’s not a computer geek like me… he’s an art geek. Don’t throw computer questions at him, or he’ll likely tell you where you can go.

Adam has a lot of opinions, and he stands behind them 100%. I’m proud of him for that. I enjoy watching him on his stream, and I hope you will, as well.

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How do You Deal with Information Overload?

chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo) — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:11:28 +0000

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The problem today isn’t that there’s not enough information. There’s too much. It’s not there aren’t ways to publish content on the Internet - there are an abundance. A lot of noise comes with that signal. So we’ve got different problems than we used to have. Information used to be handed to us from “on high”, as recently as a decade ago. Nowadays, information is just literally everywhere. It’s overwhelming at times. It’s impossible for me to keep up with the news aggregator, the email, the social networks…

Where does it end? How do you keep up with this information overload? It’s gotten to the point where I’ve had to start actually closing my system down. I love information. I’m an information junkie! I love teaching, learning, consuming, producing… I love it all. Imagine billions of people like me, though. How do we deal with all of it? I received an email recently about this very subject:

As it relates to hardware, Moore’s law does a good job of explaining the limitation of transistors in relation to the exponential growth of such systems. Is there an equivalent to Moore’s law for searching and assembling all of the information that is found online? What are we to do when the content becomes so overwhelming that we may have to design better tools just for managing and viewing information?

Are we relying too much on the machine to figure out what’s good and what’s bad? I think we are, and that’s where information overload is getting to be overwhelming. A few years ago, I was able to deal with it much easier. I think that’s because the tools just weren’t as good at putting the information together for us. It gets bigger and bigger.. and worse and worse… every day.

I believe the future of information overload is to go back to classic mode: humans and machines. The Internet is the connection between us. If I have a question about something, I’ll turn to someone I know, and who will have the correct information. What’s the answer to all of this information overload then?

I’m interested in hearing your opinions on this. Leave me a follow-up comment here, or send me an email to chris@pirillo.com

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What are the Implications of using Video Services?

chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo) — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:54:46 +0000

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How do you guys out there watch tv these days? Do you still watch it on an actual television set? Do you watch it through the Internet? More to the point… how do you watch video? I have a question here that was sent to me in an email. That’s why I’m bringing this up. “What is the social and political impact of services such as iTunes and Adobe Media Player?”

Up until recently, we didn’t have much of a choice as to how we watch our content. There’s really no choice for a lot of the programming out there now, with a television. Then again, with content that comes through something like iTunes or Adobe Media Player, is much broader. These ideas are changing the way we access content, and the way those content services exist now and into the future.

Comcast has a service that we love, called “On Demand”. We like being able to watch movies together. So, we’ll pay a small amount of money to rent the movie. With a service like AppleTV, we could download that same movie a bit cheaper. We could also use the video content services on our Xbox 360. So which one do we use to watch that one piece of media? You might argue that you could just use a DVR. But have you ever tried to use a DVR that was designed by someone other than the person who is trying to control the entire experience? It’s a painful experience, to say the least.

We have a choice. Does it matter how we get to our content and information. There’s a huge debate about the value of a connection point. I would hope that in the future, I have the opportunity to just go between any device I choose. Imagine having competing services in the home. Why does it matter which provider I have to use? I should be the one in control… not the big companies. Period. End of story.

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Web Communities and Social Networks Need Transparency

chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo) — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:24:57 +0000

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I need you all to think about your answer to this question I received in an email: “What would be the one fundamental principle every social networking community must have for maintaining its integrity to the people who are using that site?”. To me… the answer is simple. Say it with me: Transparency.

Transparency is the number one underlying principle for any website or network that plans to connect people together. It’s about transparency between the network and the people using the network. There’s nothing special there. It’s open, and it’s honest. If you’re not open with your audience… what are you? If you decide to make a change and your audience isn’t up to speed, they may not like it. However, if you’re open about the entire thing from start to finish, your audience will certainly be much more receptive.

There is such a thing as a degree of transparency. Too much isn’t a good thing. You need to be open just enough. If you aren’t, people will think of you as dishonest or hiding something from them. There are a million and one social networks out there. What’s the value of one over another? That’s up to each individual who uses them. The more transparent you are, the better off you’ll be. The people who will disagree are the one who are used to dealing with public relations’ spins. They tend to deal with creating the illusion of transparency. They always seem to forget how much we can all see right through the illusions.

I’ve been a community leader on the Internet for many years now. I’ve been as open about the process as I possibly could’ve been. It’s difficult to be transparent - make no mistake about it. It’s hard to make mistakes and deal with problems out in the open, and hope that everyone understands. However, it’s usually easier to deal with imperfections when you do so openly. People will realize you’re human, and they’ll open up to you and connect with you on a much higher level.

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Steal my Content - with Permission and Credit

chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo) — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:10:34 +0000

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Isn’t this soundboard the coolest thing? It was created by live community member desertwarrior. Not only is it fun, it also really underscores my belief in being open about everything I do. He’s taken about 60 clips of things I’ve said and sounds I’ve made, and put them together in this neat little application you can all play with.

There are some content producers who aren’t as unfriendly to their community. They aren’t as open to letting their community to do things like this. I’ve said in the past you can use my Chris heads anytime you want. This just wraps up everything I enjoy about interacting with people on the Web. Until the day comes when I lose my voice… I’ll be able to keep this up.

I don’t know how you all feel about this. If you create content and put it online… do you let the community take the ball and run with it. If you don’t allow it… why? I’m just curious as to why don’t. You’re free to use any of my content. All I ask is a small amount of credit. Embed my videos. Share a link of mine. Use an article I’ve written. Just show me the final product. Send me a .pdf, or a link… just something I can see. Go ahead and use those clips and sound bites. Just be friendly about it, not gross or illegal. Thats just not right. Again, all I ask is you give some type of credit (a link back to my site is fine).

Let’s not go overboard though. The World can only take so much of me. Heck… I can only take so much of me.

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My Leather Coach Wallet

chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo) — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:47:57 +0000

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Ponzi says it’s time to let my favorite wallet go, and get a new one… or get mine fixed. With a Coach wallet, you can send it in to be re-sewn if it starts to come apart. The leather on my wallet is great still. But, Ponzi is worried about money falling out, due to the sewing coming apart.

The great thing about Coach products is that their warranty is so amazing, you can send in your wallet if anything goes wrong with it. They will clean it, re-sew it… whatever they need to do in order to make it look as good as new again. So Ponzi buys me this second wallet to use while she sends in my Coach wallet. My point is: I’m a GUY. I don’t need two wallets. This whole “alternating” thing is just starting to freak me out a bit. She has more than one of literally everything. Me? Not so much.

The good news is, I’m just as much of an influence on her as she is on me. The day of this recording, she wore a cap all day… a FireFox cap, that is. Ya just have to love it.

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