Kat, a few points.

First, I think the important thing to constantly remember is that people are controlling the information that they are offering out to the world. People shouldn't be posting information that they think could be potentially dangers. For instance, "Hi, I'm a very hot girl who is alone at 3am and just checked in from Five Points!" That would be a very questionable decision. However, checking in from a local tech meetup in order to exchange ideas seems like a much better idea.

To me, BrightKite is similar to the early days of Facebook when people would basically post their entire life online. Class schedule, phone number, home address, etc. People eventually learned that they need to control their posted information or deal with the consequences. Perhaps these services could better explain the need for security, and that might be something worth encouraging.

Still, these services do have a lot of positive benefits. Many of which I listed in my previous blog post about Twitter. People can get these benefits without risking their safety, they just need to be cognizant of their environment and who they're giving this information out to.

To me, the sacrifice of a few people knowing where I am sometimes is worth the connection and community involvement I get in return.

Hey Scarlson, I agree with your point for sure. I would enjoy that immensely. However, I can also understand why IntenseDebate would want to offer a styled method for people that aren't very adept at working with HTML or CSS.

It does from a certain standpoint make sense to have a widget for your product. It's more the problem with their implementation and lack of other options.

Well put, but the problem is in general I like Apple's attention to detail and the quality of their products.

I just wish they hadn't tried to over simplify this already successful product. The shuffle with buttons was beautiful and worked great, why mess that up? If forced to I will purchase products from another vendor, however, I was hoping it wouldn't come to that.

Kat, I agree! I have to say one of the best examples I've seen is Ford's F150 typographic commercial. So sexy and so well done, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhQnA03rmek I hate Ford, but have to admit good work when I see it.

Yeeehaw.

There is one golden rule I strongly encourage be followed when it comes to creating a website. It's very simple:

The website is welcome to do what it wants within your browser window, but NOTHING more.

This means:
- Websites should never pop up a window to explain something (use lightbox, tool tips, or show/hide ajax)
- Websites should never change your browser window size
- Websites should never create a new window that takes you away from your active one

There is a reason the W3C has made XHTML strict invalid when using a target=blank declaration. People who use the internet need to realize that they have control over their browser and no one else, and this should (and is trying to be) standard. I.E. People need to stop whining about users being taken away from their site. If the user left your site and they liked it they'll go back. Or, they'll choose on their own to open the site in a new window. If they aren't used to this yet, sooner or later they will be.

Users got used copy/paste, users got used to Google search, they even got used to the Windows "Start" button leading them to shut down their computer. Users aren't dumb, they just need to a bit of time to learn. Sometimes people just won't start learning how much better something can be until they are forced to see it.