We are looking for someone who can handle our comment management system, which usually takes an hour or less a day. You will be reading through all new member comments, determining if the commenter has what it takes to be approved for Gizmodo.

The work isn't necessarily hard but it is extremely important. We need a responsible person that is able to manage this every day and will not flake out on the responsibility.

Doesn't matter where you're located, how old you are, or what you look like, we just need a level-headed, dependable person who enjoys reading Gizmodo and would be able to determine a good comment.

You will be paid $100 a month to start, and if you do well we will give you slightly more responsibility and double the pay.



So if you're still interested please send an email to jobs@gizmodo.com with "Comment THOR" in the subject line explaining a bit about yourself, and why you would be perfect for this internship. You must be over 18.

Correction: Email to jobs@gizmodo.com, not tips@gizmodo.com

TomTom owns Tele Atlas, who drives the roads of the world in order to make maps, and until recently was a major map provider for Google. Nokia owns the only major competitor, Navteq, who has also provided maps for Google. Look at Google Maps now, though, and you'll see that the entire US bears just one single copyright: Google's.

Street View wasn't just a neat way to get imagery to accompany the data already found in Google Maps. As it happens, it was a way to drive the same roads that were already in Google Maps, tracing them with Google's own road teams, and—through efficiency and brute force—do away with those costly map licenses. Google has mapped the US, and will surely map the rest of the world soon enough.

This is just a timely example of Google's monstrous growth, and the destruction it causes. Any business that trades in data or packages it for public consumption may one day face the same issues. It's not just whether or not to compete with the behemoth, but even whether or not to go into business with it. In either case, there is a chance of being destroyed.

Garmin might have a long-standing relationship with Navteq, but they don't own any maps. How can they compete with a free Google app when they still have to pay? (Worse, Garmin is still stuck in the hardware business, where profits are extra thin.) TomTom owns the maps, but charges $100 for their own app because they also make money licensing maps to car makers, competing GPS makers and web services—like Google. Before, Google was a fat revenue source for TomTom; now Google is a sprightly competitor.

If a unique supply of data was the only thing keeping TomTom and others on the Google chuck wagon, who will be next to fall off?

I was always afraid of spiders growing up, not because of the eight legs or the umpteen eyes, but because of the way they kill their prey. They get them in a nice convenient position, then they use their venom to hollow out their victim's insides, until they're just dead-eyed shells. To be killed in such a manner is my worst nightmare; perhaps I should ask TomTom how it feels.

I am a fan of Google products, and a daily user of them. This is not an attack of Google's business practices, but an explanation of the sort of destructive innovation that has made them so huge so fast. (It's also a warning to consider carefully any entities that gets this strong, especially if you plan on going into business with one.) Though predecessors like Microsoft experienced similar explosive growth, and grew a similar sudden global dependence, we've never seen the likes of Google. The GPS business isn't the only one that will be consumed by its mighty maw before it's had its run.

We've already seen the devaluation of the office apps that make Microsoft rich; we've already seen how Google's experiences with Apple and others helped it create telecommunications platforms (both mobile with Android and completely virtual with Google Voice) that threaten its former partners' existence; we've already seen how Google converts photos, videos, news wire stories and other former commodities into freebies by smashing the false notion of scarcity that "service" providers had literally banked on.

So who is next? What other hallowed brands will go the way of Garmin and TomTom? Corbis and Getty? Reuters and AP? Warner and Disney?

This is a tale already told, bound to be told again, but the fundamentals are worth studying—even if we use Google Docs spreadsheets to do it. I have never spoken with a spider, but I am certain they're not evil, despite what fantasy lore tells us. They're just doing what comes naturally, and doing a hell of a job.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.To generate a link to a specific comment all you have to do is click the Time & Date under the commenter's username and the URL in your browser will automatically point to that comment. If you want to easily copy that link just right click and Copy Link. It's that simple!


Don't have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here's how you get one:

1) Click the "Login" link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the "new user?" link and you'll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

[Top Image via Flickr]

If you've got that special commenter that you can't get enough of, the first step in stalking them is setting up an RSS feed that will notify you as soon as they make a comment. It's super easy! All you have to do is navigate to that commenter's profile page, I'm sure you already have it bookmarked, and in the top right corner under Giz Login you'll see a RSS Feed button. Simply click the RSS feed button and your browser or default RSS reader should do the rest.

Don't have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here's how you get one:

1) Click the "Login" link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the "new user?" link and you'll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

[Top Image via Flickr]

The LH post explains:

When you're done with this little walkthrough, you can either grab an RSS feed that contains only replies to your comments (which you can then plug into your newsreader) or you can go one step further and set up email alerts for your comment reply notifications.

So If you're hungry for some comment reply notifications, Lifehacker's how to should whet your appetite.

Don't have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here's how you get one:

1) Click the "Login" link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the "new user?" link and you'll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

[Top Image via Flickr]

Atop the comment's section of each post you'll see all the customizable viewing options related to the comments below. The selections are pretty self explanatory which give you the ability to view comments via RSS and change the view style to classic or expand all. You're also able to change the order in which comments are displayed from oldest first, newest first and by most popular. For those of you who love reading comments and didn't already know about these features, welcome to Giz world of customization.

Don't have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here's how you get one:

1) Click the "Login" link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the "new user?" link and you'll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

After you've made a friend simply click their commenter name and you'll be redirected to their profile page. Once you're at a friend's profile page click the Message link under their screen name and you'll now see a Leave a Message box followed by all their recent messages. Just type in your stupid message, select if you want to make it public and hit submit. It's that simple, but remember you can only leave messages for your friends and not just any commenter.


Don't have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here's how you get one:

1) Click the "Login" link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the "new user?" link and you'll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

[Top Image via Flickr]

Commenting on Gizmodo isn't hard, essentially it should be fun and enlightening. Some of our commenters have trouble understanding that and instead they choose to be dumb.

For the most part our commenters and their contributions to Giz are irreplaceable and add that extra level of insight. If you're posting good comments this message isn't directed at you, it's for that other guy.

We're talking about anyone who posts such overplayed dumb comments like "First", "Will It Blend", "Fanboys" and so on. Having good commenting etiquette isn't hard and to help you out here's a few simple tips:

Before you make a comment ask yourself:
- Has my comment been made before ?
- Is my comment dumb ?
- Does my comment add anything positive to the discussion ?

If you follow those three tips you should be on your way making insightful and respectable comments. For more info on what's an acceptable comment and what's not feel free to catch up here or here.

Don't have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here's how you get one:

1) Click the "Login" link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the "new user?" link and you'll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

Note: Any commenters who feel the need to post stupid comments like "First" in this post will be immediately banned.

To "Follow" or "Friend" another commenter is simple, once you are logged into your commenting account and you have found a commenter you want to befriend, just click that little heart under their name. Once that heart turns red a message should display on the side of the comment window confirming your friendship. You can now celebrate your popularity.


Don't have a Gizmodo comment account yet? Well here's how you get one:

1) Click the "Login" link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the "new user?" link and you'll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

[Top Image via Flickr]

If you've always wanted to comment on Gizmodo but didn't want to sign up for yet another login, now you can comment using your Facebook account. Here's how.

First, go to any post that you want to comment in. Then, click the Facebook Connect button, enter your login and you're done. Your username will have a little Facebook 'F' logo so people will know you're a FB user as well.
—
If you don't have a Facebook account or using your FB to comment isn't really your style, you can still sign up for a good ol' Gizmodo comment account.

1) Click the "Login" link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the "new user?" link and you'll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

Note: Don't flame Facebook users just because they're using Facebook. Do it individually if a person is being an idiot, not to the entire Facebook-user community. – JC

1) Click the "Login" link on the top right of the page and doing so will show a drop down box for logging in. Click the "new user?" link and you'll be directed to our Registration page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

3) Fill in the comment.

4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.

5) If you have any comment related issues or questions, feel free to send an email to comments@gizmodo.com.

Update: Also, don't flame Facebook users just because they're using Facebook. Do it individually if a person is being an idiot, not to the entire Facebook-user community. – JC

BY STRIDER_MT2K AT 09:08 AM
Holy Milton Berle that thing's huge!

BY RIPFIRE4 AT 07:29 PM
@morganlh85: "I haven't been able to find a decent watch that doesn't weigh my arm down or look ridiculous and/or homely."
What's your arm made of? Spaghetti?

This is awarded comment of the day status for very different reasons than previous winners. Before, the comments won for thought-out ideas and proper deliveries; sadly this comment does not contain these elements.
The comment wins simply because it produces a funny thought. The idea that morganlh85 has spaghetti for arms; yes that's right, the image of a man with spaghetti arms; with no hands, just long single strands of spaghetti. Then the thought of this spaghetti arm man trying on various watches in a jewelry story and after testing a dozen or so he states in a frustrated tone to his wife, "See what I mean, this watch, it's just too big, it's way too heavy... sheesh, I can never find a watch that fits.."

So there you go, the explanation to why RIPFIRE4 is awarded the comment of the day.
[Comment]

BY NUTBASTARD AT 09:56 AM
NOTICE: Not Compatible With Hindu(R) Third Eye(TM)

BY SANGARTS2 AT 06:38 PM
I HATE this show... I hate music used as comedy.
-
BY ADAM FRUCCI AT 06:41 PM
@sangarts2: Comedy hates you right back.

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Don't know how to comment? Here's how:

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Don't know how to comment? Here's how:

1) Click on the "Register" link on the top right of the page. Fill out the form by choosing a username, password and email for your eventual comment account.

2) Choose a post, click on it, and scroll to the bottom.

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4) Refresh the page to see if your comment shows up. If it hasn't within a day or two, try again with a better comment.