I still like this one better.

This is related to the story below. After his first rant, Scoble goes on another one wondering why people aren’t linking to this stuff - much of which is a lot of high quality video footage of startup CEOs. I’m not sure what the answer to that is, although I am going to be paying more attention to his videos and linking where appropriate.

But he also let loose a barrage that I see quite often, but never in public like that. Bloggers scream about links every day in emails and IMs back and forth. Sometimes it’s more subtle, like receiving a nice email suggesting a link (I actually find a lot of good stuff that way), but if someone writes about something AFTER another blogger does and doesn’t give credit, all hell can break loose and often does. I’ve just never seen it happen publicly.

For Robert to do this out in the open makes it look like he’s just complaining. But what he’s saying is good for the blogging community. Engadget is no longer really a blog. They still look like a blog, but they’re bigger than a lot of mainstream media businesses. And Robert is asking them which direction they are planning on going now that they’re so big. Will they remain part of the blogging community, or adopt the stand alone silo habits of old media.

There are informal rules that bloggers have adopted and that aren’t usually broken. A story can be ignored, but if you write about something you found through another blog, a link should be given. Robert is stating a pretty good case that Engadget should have linked to him. They’re saying there was no value in it. Robert says otherwise.

Good drama.

Scoble has a good long cathartic rant on the state of linking in blogs, with multiple updates, apologies and a few random scuffles in the comments. Good stuff.

In 2005 we wrote a post on TechCrunch about Post Secret, the site where you anonymously send in a postcard with a secret written on it and it is published on the site (and has also been made into a physical book). That post has gathered hundreds of comments - usually 3 or 4 per week - that talk about people’s secrets. There are some really freaky and beautiful things written there.

Tony Hung writes Deep Jive Interests, a great blog that covers a lot of the same stuff we do at TechCrunch. Lots of links going back and forth, etc. What I didn’t know is that he’s in his third year of residency, on his way to becoming a doctor. He’s currently working in the palliative care unit where he helps people who are dying of cancer. There’s a blog about one of his patients, named Joshua, here.

Tony blogs about tech to blow off steam after a long day of helping people, many of whom don’t have long to live. Heavy stuff. Standing ovation for Tony and others that dedicate their lives to helping people.

I once (nearly ten years ago) ran a marathon for the Leukemia society, although to be completely honest the fact is that my best friend talked me into it by saying something like “dude, it’s like 70% women in the training program.” Reading the blog about Joshua makes me embarrassed that my help in the fight against cancer began and ended with that marathon. I complain that I work too hard and there’s no time for anything but blogging. Stuff like this puts all of my petty complaints into perspective.

Hey Forbes, thanks very much for including me (and my dad) in your first annual “Web Celeb 25” list. As Calacanis, who’s also on the list, said, I didn’t know anything about this until it was forwarded to me today. I can think of at least 100 people who are more deserving, mostly entrepreneurs who’ve given up a steady income to pursue their dreams. Hopefully they’ll be recognized financially if not by being placed on a list.

Dare Obasanjo, a Microsoft employee (apparently this person is the son of the President of Nigeria?) apparently didn’t like my post about Microsoft’s attempt to pay a blogger to make Wikipedia changes on their behalf, so he vandalizes the Wikipedia entry on TechCrunch to…prove a point? What point? That he’s a jerk?

As an experiment I’ve updated the Wikipedia entry for TechCrunch with a mention of some of the claims about Mike Arrington’s conflicts of interest on the site and references to negative blog posts but no link to his side of the story.

My respect for Microsoft just took a very, very deep hit. I’m not sure if/how we’ll respond. This action would not be acceptable under any circumstances, but I also wonder if Dare even fully read my post - I defended Microsoft.

I have a suggestion to companies: Request your employees to refrain from attacking journalists who write about you. Respectful disagreement is one thing. This is something completely different.