Hello, everyone! I�m Molly Wood and welcome to the CNET Mailbag, the show where
we read your emails, answer your questions, and try to inform you about all the awesome
things we do here at CNET. Or, just apologize for things we did wrong. Depends on the
day.
Let�s start with awesome things. Nick writes in to say:
Hi!!
Eric Franklin is my favorite person at CNET, but... What is the point of the "Quick
View" videos? Why not just wait a little while and then give a full review?
Ok, Nick, thanks for asking! Yes, we recently launched these Quick View videos, like
this one on the Palm Pre�s Touchstone Charging Kit.
Basically, these videos don�t replace the First Look review videos we do � they�re
basically meant to be like video blog posts that editors can do when there�s some element
of a product that they want to cover but it�s maybe too much information for the First
Look or it comes up after the review has been shot. It�s supposed to be an easy way for us
to give you, you know, extra video. Please let me know what you think if you run across
them, though!
And speaking of new things at CNET, we just started testing a new comment system that
you might run into on Webware pages. It�s called Echo, it�s made by a company called
JSKit. And it basically crawls the Web for comments about a story, and puts it in our
comments section. So, it�ll search Twitter, Facebook, delicious, Friendfeed, and so on, so
that all the discussion about a topic is collected on this one page. Smart! Look for it on
Webware and let me know what you think. I think it�s a good idea for a product, that�s
what I think.
Now, for some problem solving. Brad says:
Allow me to get right to the point: Most of my CNET podcasts work
great. I get new episodes of the Apple Byte, Buzz Report, Top 5,
Green Show, Hacks, How To, and Loaded. My problem is with First Look. My
First Look feed rarely grabs new episodes, however TONS appear in the "All
CNET Video Podcasts" feed. Is this a known issue?
Well, Brad, it wasn�t, but it is now! Jason Howell, our podcast producer, looked into it
and said that, indeed, there was a problem with our First Look entries in Feedburner, you
helped him figure out what it was, and now it should be fixed! So, nice work, Brad, and
also Jason. First Look podcast feed: get it now.
Moving on to lovermail, alazarshahy says:
message: Oh dude i just saw Kent German video Sonum XP3 Quest... Wow thats great,
Kent is officially a beast in my book... And the last scene... Wow awesome
Yeah. Among other things that happen to that phone in that video, Kent uses it as a
hammer, drops it down a two-story stairwell, and � well. You should watch it. And if
you�re like, G.I. Joe, you might want that phone.
More lovermail from a very excitable Christopher, who says:
Where is the Cnet HQ located, and if i went there do you guys give tours to the public?
Cnet rocks! i watch it while i clean my room!!! and molly you are one funny person! and
brian tong is the coolest dude
EVER! alright! Your shows are helpful and fun at the same time! what a perfect
combination, like macaroni and cheese!!!
Fired UP! Christopher, we�re located at 235 2nd St. in San Francisco, and we don�t give
official tours, but if you know you�re going to be in town, you can try to get in touch with
us via, say, buzz email or mailbag email and try to arrange a visit. No promises, though!
Also, we don�t have like, a store or anything. Mostly just cubicles.
And FINALLY, we have a little gift today for one of our readers.
Mark says:
Brian Tong is the sexist thing ever. I'd watch him read the phone book. Can he come
over and read my phone book?
I assume he means sexiest. And Mark? Brian�s not coming over, but � check this out.
Really? That does it for you? I�m kind of bored.
And that�s it for this week, everyone! Keep the feedback and questions coming! Email
me at Mailbag@cnet.com, or send your snail mail to 235 2nd St., San Francisco, CA,
94105. Thanks for watching, everyone.
