Anil Dash

I would disagree that those are two different problems -- "preventing [the site] from collapsing in on itself" and figuring out how to host relevant discussions are tied together more deeply than that. As an example, if heated discussions/topics are systemically removed from view, it makes HN more of an echo chamber, and it will attract more people who will make having volatile discussions more difficult in the future. If you can get past the title, this is actually a very excellent article on moderation requirements for a successful online community: http://dashes.com/anil/2011/07/if-your-websites-full-of-assholes-its-y…

Recommended reading for you. http://dashes.com/anil/2009/06/the-end-of-fail.html

This is not even about entrepreneurship At some level consider it is? (1) symbolic the evolution of strategy; or (2) its part of a larger narrative on openess vs trusworthiness; or even (3) its might ve PR issue.ETC. Also, its always interesting to look back and put this in context: like this http://dashes.com/anil/2009/12/the-twitter-api-is-finished.html

We might be more focused on getting people to do things, but it doesn't need to be just about getting people to sign up for things. We can also use software to make people behave better, to make people's lives better. Just yesterday there was a post from Grouper talking about how they figured out basically a hack to get people not to flake out (http://blog.joingrouper.com/intro-to-social-hacking-how-we-lowered-our… Anil Dash talks about using technology to create more civil conversations on the web (http://dashes.com/anil/2011/07/if-your-websites-full-of-assholes-its-y… If you ask me, those are good developments and we should focus more on figuring out how to create online communities that are best. That may involve some manipulation but it may all be for the best.

We haven't yet decided how to handle the problem for which progressive enhancement is but one solution. IMHO progressive enhancement is an anchor and those who have pushed for it for years are false prophets. Instead I think we should focus on mapping routes to state (documents) so that an entirely different site (one resembling the original web) is shown instead. I'm the first employee at the company and AFAIK also the only person at the company that browses with javascript disabled by default (ironic, isn't it?), and one of the things that most excites me about the API-ification of the web with thick web clients, is the possibility to create server side frameworks that a static representation (basically pure HTML and minimal CSS) with javascript for famous apps. If the user has javascript enabled, it would completely replace the content in body with a rich app. If not, they have the glory of a motherfucking website [0]. IMHO, progressive enhancement was a huge mistake and we instead should have been make two sites all along: (1) super duper interactive apps/sites for the newest and best browsers, and (2) stupidly simple sites/documents that would be browseable by old browsers, screen readers and hopefully even lynx[1]. Making a site serve two masters is more work and results in a poorer compromised experience for all. Apps and documents are built on fundamentally different abstractions and trying to find an abstraction that can accomplish both is a pipe-dream. If…

Chris Anderson and Wired manipulate facts to forward their theories with whatever new theory and bandwagon they are jumping on. The data cited in 'The Long Tail' was not accurate[1], and actually supported the counter-argument. 'Free' was similarly vague[2] and inaccurate[3]. The entire m.o of Anderson seems to be to take a concept or theory that sounds interesting and package it in laymans terms for a gullible public. It is presented as 'research' or a 'breakthrough' and most average readers suck it up, but these theories are usually far from. To see them doing it again with this latest theory is no surprise. Anderson really doesn't let the truth get in the way of a good story, especially when there are magazines and books to sell, and high-priced speaking gigs to book. (see also the excellent: http://dashes.com/anil/2009/07/free-criticism-and-science-without-data… [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Tail#Criticism [2] http://compassioninpolitics.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/criticism-of-chri… [3] http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/07/06/090706crbo_book…

I feel bad for him, but his second most recent blog post is odious: why he only retweets females. http://dashes.com/anil/2014/02/a-checklist-of-stupid-things-men-will-s… Maybe karma works in mysterious ways

Why would you want such a thing? Fact-based accusations? That doesn't work well with the thought police. The funny thing is, you go take a look on what this guy wrote in the past and there's stuff like "There's a related question here which no one is asking, which is whether the economic catastrophe facing the global marketplace is a result of a failure of white culture in America."[1] Seriously? Is this any different from saying that famine in Africa a result of a failure of black culture (whatever that is)? Is this a "guru"? Guru of what? At least the so-called "asshole" can actually build something useful, instead of just thought-policing without looking in the mirror... [1] http://dashes.com/anil/2009/01/monoculture-is-bad-for-business.html

Respectable == toeing the Marxist/feminist line. You can have political opinions in public, as long as its left. Meanwhile, this guy is still employed: https://twitter.com/anildash/status/370362753451827200 Also, "the economic catastrophe facing the global marketplace is a result of a failure of white culture in America."[2] Because, hey!, we all know white people are crazy. Good thing businesses never have to hire white people. [2] http://dashes.com/anil/2009/01/monoculture-is-bad-for-business.html

Anil Dash makes a pretty good case for doing just that. (It's blog-specific, but close enough) http://dashes.com/anil/2011/07/if-your-websites-full-of-assholes-its-y…

Then I'll try and be a little more civilized here: Along with some nice things, 4chan is also a notorious breeding ground for some of the worst and most noxious media and hateful activity (e.g. harassment campaigns) on the internet. This has continued to be the case for many years. It doesn't seem much has changed. Don't you feel any responsibility for the behavior of your users? http://dashes.com/anil/2011/07/if-your-websites-full-of-assholes-its-y…

Most feature launches that need a 'scapegoat' use employees' likenesses or profiles. For example: - the 'Twitter Teacher' who appears in the sign up flow used to work at Twitter; - and, the profiles used in the verification flow are also employees (http://dashes.com/anil/2013/03/what-its-like-being-verified-on-twitter… I agree that this was unprofessional though and hope the offenders learn from the mistake.

>"I'm terrified of doing anything that would make me look like a jerk in front of my family and friends." That just doesn't seem true. He consistently goes out of his way to engage in trivial arguments with people, especially on Twitter. Literally days after the sale, he called out Anil Dash in a needlessly confrontational way about some minute error in his history of Tumblr (http://dashes.com/anil/2013/05/seven-years-ago-my-wife.html). Not to mention the time when got in some squabble with a writer for one of the Apple rumor sites, then blacklisted said site from every Instapaper account. As far as I'm concerned, he's made a jerk of himself in public innumerable times already. He just seems like an abrasive guy. That's not to say that his work is inferior (certainly assholes have created incredible work before), but any fear of looking like a jerk is moot. He has been a jerk forever.

technical answer: [backbone] models is the new DOM non-technical: app networks formed by much smaller, more open apps loosely connected into swarming alliances people: as software eats the world, there will emerge a class of blue collar coders, see http://dashes.com/anil/2012/10/the-blue-collar-coder.html

Oops, direct URL is http://dashes.com/anil/2013/03/ten-tips-guaranteed-to-improve-your-sta…

Not according to this: http://dashes.com/anil/2012/11/facebook-makes-it-official-you-have-no-… Not that users ever had a say in the first place.

I don't really see how Mashable's UI is in any way new or different. The same sidebar overdose and jumble of unrelated content thrown together on a page. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but eventually I think publishers will figure out that simpler is better. (Also see http://dashes.com/anil/2012/08/stop-publishing-web-pages.html.) And Quartz, although there's a couple of kinks in their app, is a step in that direction. Also, you're probably not their target audience. For someone who reads business news, those "spammy" topic titles you talk about are all things e.g. a Wall Street Journal reader is familiar with and cares about.

>Here in Manhattan, where I live, basic search by building names is profoundly degraded in Apple's maps search. "Bloomberg" doesn't find the Bloomberg Tower; on Google Maps it's the first result. Searching for its address "731 Lexington Avenue" yields that address on Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn. It's fine to think that perhaps I wanted the address in Bed-Stuy, but even appending "NY, NY" or "Manhattan, NY" still yields the Brooklyn address. Google maps has none of these comprehension issues. I understand this is due to Apple partnering with Tom Tom, whose maps are considered to be lower in quality than other players like Nokia, but I'm not informed enough to say with certainty whether that's the case. http://dashes.com/anil/images/lexington-map.jpg Source: http://dashes.com/anil/2012/09/who-benefits-from-ios6s-crappy-maps.htm…

Don't get too excited... http://dashes.com/anil/2012/09/who-benefits-from-ios6s-crappy-maps.htm…

pg seems to have said something alex'ish elsewhere: "I once sat in a crowded hall and listened to Paul Graham give a keynote presentation about going big, doing it quickly, and getting tons of funding. During Q&A, someone asked what was wrong with instead of trying to go big with big money backers, you just went for profit and kept ownership to yourself and Graham said something like "you want to run a little business? Go run a shoe store then" Matt Haughey http://dashes.com/anil/2011/01/mom-and-pop-at-web-scale.html#comment-6…

"You want to run a little business? Go run a shoe store then." http://dashes.com/anil/2011/01/mom-and-pop-at-web-scale.html#comment-6…

I didn't, but with a link I surely would. Edit: Here we go: http://www.dashes.com/anil/2006/03/your-april-fool.html (I'm assuming that's what you're referring to)

I tried applying for one of these permits on the largest stage in the US -- NYC -- on several occasions. The Parks Dept, which issues such permits, is a nightmare to deal with: they charge per application, require multiple applications merely to check different dates, and regularly lie about the availability of parks. You might think spontaneous assembly is an option, and in some cases it is, but if you're going to have speakers (people), you need a sound system, and to set up a sound system you need a police permit, and to get a police permit you need a Parks permit. Start setting up without these and you'll be arrested before anyone utters a word. Then there are the various "public-private spaces". Try applying for a permit to rally in Zuccotti Park and the go-to person will put you on hold, only to come back and say they are only issuing permits for cultural events. So the developers get their air rights, while the public gets the muzzle. Bullshit. Anil Dash has written about this some: http://dashes.com/anil/2012/03/captive-atria-and-living-in-public.html Indeed, the very frequency with which the Farmers' Market is now held in Union Square, the most central spot in NYC and a place rich in social movements, might be construed as little more than cover for crowd control, have as it does the effect of making this space all but inaccessible to protesters.

App.net isn't a solution. They are still a centralized social network, owned by one company. Sure, they treat users nice now, but what happens if the business model changes? Second, it's impossible to get on App.net's social network without paying a significant sum of money. This means a truly diverse set of voices will never be represented on App.net. For more, see “You Can't Start the Revolution From the Country Club” by Anil Dash: http://dashes.com/anil/2012/08/you-cant-start-the-revolution-from-the-… I have the most hope, long term, for the Tent protocol: https://tent.io It's not ready for prime-time yet, and the existing hosting service is not entirely smooth. But anyone can set up their own provider. We could have some businesses that charge a few dollars a month, like App.net, and put users first, and other businesses that offer free service with ads, and it would all be on the same network, just like the competition among email and web hosting providers today.