I just finished doing my holiday giving, and I encourage you to do the same. Here are the organizations where I sent my dollars:
Someone please build Google Reader + Techmeme
I haven’t seriously opened Google Reader in months. That might be because I’m in law school and have limited time to read besides for courses. I don’t think this is true, though, because I still frequent Twitter, Techmeme, Google News, NYTimes, Facebook…. yeah, I have plenty of time for other stuff. It might be because I have 144 subscriptions, leading my unread count to reach the dreaded “1000+” in a matter of days. But shouldn’t Reader’s “sort by magic” help with that?
I think the real reason that I recoil from RSS these days is because of organization. Let’s do a little history lesson, and then I’ll make a proposal for something better.
Room for Debate: “Do Not Track”
The New York Times has an excellent “Room for Debate” installment on the subject of the F.T.C.’s recent proposal for a “do not track” mechanism for the Web. It features commentary from Jonathan Zittrain, Fred Wilson, Jim Harper, and Jonathan Askin. Definitely check it out. Favorite quote, from Askin:
I come from the “Crazy Eddie” approach to regulation. In order for industry to adopt meaningful online privacy processes and policies on its own, it must fear that the F.T.C. is about to issue an order with the tagline: “We’re the F.T.C., and our policies are INSANE!” That is, if industry doesn’t step up, government will do it for them, and the government solution might be crazy.
