Social Social!!

I have been playing with some alpha and beta software the past few months. Well, actually, I do that all the time, that’s not news. But I like to tinker with Media Server software when I can. And now that I have a newer computer that can actually display stuff, it’s been more fun.

In the past you’ve heard me talk about how badly I’ve wanted to build a “myth box“. It’s basically a home-theater+dvr server. (Patrick has written much more about it, check out his site).

There is other software out that’s a bit easier to use if you’re less inclined to tinker though and have a spare machine around. And if you have a Mac there’s Plex and Boxee (and Sapphire, a plug-in for Front Row).

But I was thinking about the Mac software a lot recently. And this morning on the bus there was a guy on his cell phone talking about Web Two Point Ohhhh (I should point out that he wasn’t that loud, but the rest of the bus was quiet). But listening to that guy talk about Social Sites (and someone in the office talking about Facebook) reminded me that just because a site has a “social” aspect it doesn’t make it any better than other software. In some cases it can be worse. Bear with me, I’ll circle back to this . . .

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