I have recently realized that there are people inside Tehran that are reading my blog – therefore, I will translate every thing I write from here on to make it easy for them to get information, thoughts, prayers and support as quickly as possible. Why I didn’t realize this earlier is beyond me. Sorry about my lack. Thank you for your support. I am honored to support the Sea of Green. Humbled actually and in awe to know such amazing souls.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Chat Roulette, EPCOT and avoiding the decorating..
Well good morning to you. As I write it is 11:59 on saturday morning and I should be painting my skirting boards but I am putting that off to do this. I hope you feel honoured that I am prioritising you ahead of glossing!
I have been dabbling with a website called Chat Roulette this week ( www.chatrt.com )….I heard about it from Tim Lovejoy, who posted a tweet about it on twitter. (Already I sound like an internet junkie or a sad git, don’t I?) It’s a relatively primitive site, although the format is simple and, as is so often the case, when something is good it is an achingly simple idea.
You have a webcam feed from your computer, a webcam feed from a ’stranger’ and you have a text box (like on msn) to communicate if your webcam does not have a microphone. The idea is simple – the website puts you with a random person and you can communicate/have a chat or just click on ‘next’ and move on to see someone else. It may not grab you immediately, but it is addictive. There are no profile names, no personal details, you do not specify if you are male/female, etc, you just meet whoever comes up next. So far I have met several Americans, Argentinians, French, German, Chinese and a guy from Chile….but amusingly only one British person. There are so many people who use the site that the chances of meeting someone British, so it would seem, is quite slim. But that adds to the fun – the random day to day chat is so much more interesting if you don’t even know which country your stranger is from.
Yes I know the alarm bells may be ringing…the risks of this kind of anonymous site are clear…but you have to be sensible about what you’re putting out there and you have to be aware that it is possible to record what is happening. As an example of this search ‘Chat Roulette’ on You Tube. But people are becoming more savvy with this etiquette and as long as you don’t allow your 13yr old daughter on the site, all is well. On that point, there is a lower age limit of 16 years but it is quite disturbing to click ‘next’ and find someone who is clearly below that age. Such is the growing trend for this site and accessibility of the internet – unsupervised – in some homes this may be inevitable, but that is a subject for another blog. But I do wish parents would put some control mechanism in place to prevent this…it’s basic stuff….and the dangers are terrifying.
You have to also use this site with some knowledge of time zones and be aware of a basic human nature - give a webcam to a young male at a certain time of night and he will inevitably feel the need to get his penis out or remove some clothes. I think most adults over 16 have seen a willy and once you get used to the fact that sometimes you will click on ‘next’ and see a penis, you will get over this. Usually if you type ‘wow, small…’ in the text box the owner of the penis will click ‘next’ for you. I find it quite funny. But as a general rule USA are about 5 hours behind, europe an hour ahead and Asia are about 5/6hours ahead. this will usually give you a clue about the nationality of the penis!!
But that said, I have had some great banter with Americans – the day feels so much better after you take the pi$$ over their poor geography and tendency to invade places – and they think our women are all pregnant at 13 and our country is a dinky little island off Europe. In a way, both countries are right about the other. I find it blows their minds when you mention that part of Great Britain sits off the coast of Argentina, and they think it’s hilarious when you point out Canada is not one of the American states.
Some people just don’t get Social Networking on the internet. I am not addicted to it, but I find Twitter fascinating – communicating with people you just never would otherwise – and it gives you access to some high-profile people. On the other end of the scale, Chat Roulette is a bit of fun with random anonymous people and I find it’s banter all the way…but i would happily not use it for months. Facebook is for people I actually know and keep general contact with.
Some years ago I visited DisneyWorld for the first time and, in particular, EPCOT. I remember the first time I went on the ride inside the EPCOT globe - and the part where it ‘thrusts you into the future’….as far as a plastic car travelling at walking pace can. It predicted a future where people will communicate across the world with cameras and huge tv screens in their homes. This was about 20 years ago. Maybe slightly less. At the time webcams, the internet, Twitter, Facebook, Chat Roulette were not around and this vision seemed fanciful. (I would suspect many of the inventors of these sites were still in nappies if they were actually born at that point) Here we are in 2010 and we take this kind of thing for granted. I can sit at the top of the stairs and click a few buttons and chat with a stranger in China….or pick up my Blackberry and leave a Twitter post with a photo of where I am/a GPS map and this is accessible to the entire world…..or I can see what my old girlfriend is doing in Dubai through Facebook. Hmm…sometimes we take all this technology for granted.
Where will all this be in another 5 or 10 years? Well I think I will pick that as a subject of my next blog. First I have to paint my Skirting boards with a Brilliant White gloss. Wish me luck. And what will I be listening to whilst painting? Here are my ‘tunes to listen to whilst painting Skirting Boards’…..as ever the link is through the excellent Spotify.
Enjoy…
Caesars – Jerk It Out (Original Mix)
ZZ Top – Viva Las Vegas – Remastered LP Version
Jay-Z – Empire State Of Mind [Jay-Z + Alicia Keys] – Explicit Album Version
Will Young – Grace
Bingo ladies are violent!
Bingo ladies don't play!
So today I went out to a BINGO hall with one of my best friends to play a little BINGO and I have to say old ladies that play BINGO do not play around! There had to be at least 100 old ladies and these ladies were crazy! I don’t know what it is but BINGO brings out the worst in people. These ladies cursed worst than sailors and they had no problem telling people how it is. There was a lady that was sitting next to me and she was especially pleasant. This woman said “Fuck” at lease 50 times and she told the woman sitting next to her that if she won another game she was going to beat her ass in the parking lot in which the other woman said “Suck it whore!”. By the end of the night all the women were talking smack to each other and I didn’t win anything. I wonder if this happens at all bingo halls or just mine?
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Video is the Radio Star
For those of you who missed Sean’s illuminating talk earlier this week, here it is!
Many thanks to Sean for sharing his talk on Vimeo. It has been broken down into 2 parts for ease of viewing.
Social Media for Small Groups (SocMedSG) Part 1_22.2.10 from seanmtully on Vimeo.
First part of a short talk I gave to a WEA training course on the basics of Social Media Strategy for small groups. Much of the thinking was based on a mix of my own experience to date, and learning from AJ Leon at osCharity.
Social Media for Small Groups (SocMedSG) Part 2_22.2.10 from seanmtully on Vimeo.
Predicting American Idol Using Twitter, Facebook and MySpace
For those of you that follow American Idol, I found an interesting site that is using the number of followers that the contestants have on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to predict who will be eliminated each week. American Idol is still in the the first week of competition, so it is still early, but it sounds like it will be an interesting experiment to follow. Check it out at http://www.idoltwit.com/
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Celebrating the end of my great grand father life, reflecting on how to save the lives of youth
Friday night while I was volunteering in Detroit for the Between the Lines Fundraiser I recieved the news that my great grand father age 93 passed away. He had lived a long and full life, a veteran of WWII, married for many decades, many had 16 grandchildren and I am one of a known 33 great grand children.
Today I will be in Flint with my family mourning the lose and the end of a long life. As people know me I am very passionate advocate for LBGT and youth mental health. From being award the Jed Foundation Award, for my 2 years of Project Light work. Additionally annually walking as with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention which you too can join in walking, advocating or donating to.
To this day wearing my Trevor Project star on my blazer no matter where I go to start dialogues of prevention. for years youth suicide a fully preventable matter has been a passion of mine. I am asking for people to while giving their prayers, blessings and more to considering making a donation to prevention for the leading cause of death for youth like myself who are gay (me) lesbian bisexual transgender.
Over the years I have attempted suicide, and spoken my story as the founder of Project Light which recently merged its membership into Trevor Project. I have seen hundreds of fellow members of my community some very very close to me who have attempted, and some who have been lose to this preventable matter that your donation of any size today could help a youth or several youths life turn to be 93 and live full long lives.
Today if you can go to Trevor Project donate page.
Twitter Me This, Twitter Me That
When Twitter first started blowing up into the cultural phenomena it is today my thought was “I don’t get it”. It seemed kind of maybe fun and a little interesting but other than that I couldn’t hit on the use-case. The only people I could think to follow were those I talk to regularly anyway. Plus, I love my friends but do I really care if Michael is doing laundry? As much as like him in smelling downy fresh, no I don’t care.
But then it hit me that Twitter was the perfect way for local companies/restaurants/drinking establishments to tell their customers/fans/lushes of chef specials day of and to give them the inside track on new releases.
Of course, if I had this thought then others must have too. I looked up a few of my favorite Chicago places and low and behold, they twitter what’s going on there! So, below are a few local Chicago(ish) foodie type places I follow. I’ve noticed that micro-brews do a much better job of utilizing Twitter in this way, but perhaps that is because their product line and production cycles lend to it best.
- Three Floyds Brewery (Dark Lord!!!!)
- Rick Bayless (Mr. Bayless also answers cooking and ingredient questions and is very twitter approachable)
- Goose Island Brewery and Restaurant (forgot about Chicago as they got bigger but they are turning back to befriending their roots)
- Koval Distillery (the rosehip liquor is out of this world, as is most of their creations)
- Revolution Brewing (haven’t been there yet because the wait is 2 hours on Saturdays, but I support local brewers)
- Spacca Napoli Pizza (Best damned pizza in Chicago. Makes me forget about deep dish)
- French Market (a in door market in a train station in down town chicago with fantastic local produce and food — what’s not to love?)
- Half Acre Brewing (I love the culture these guys have created around their brewery)
- Metropolitan Brewing (Flywheel Lager is the perfect summer beer)
- Metropolis Coffee (Great fresh roasted coffee in the heard of Edgewater)
- In Fine Spirits (Bar and Wine Shop)
- Paul Kahan (Owner and chef of a few restaurants, including one of my favorites: Publican)
- Big Jones (Great Southern Costal restaurant in Andersonville)
- Urban Belly (Bill Kim’s take on a gourmet neighborhood noodle restaurant, brandy lamb dumplings oh so good!)
Not an exhaustive list of who is followable because I only look for twitter feeds from places when I think of them. Anyone I’m missing?
Sunday, February 21, 2010
If Twitter is on a downslide...why social media marketing?
If you’re a major Twitter enthusiast, Rjmetric’s Twitter analysis at the end of 2009 could be your downfall. Statistics showed that the number of Twitter users had reached a standstill at around 75 million accounts. While this might sound like a lot, their statistics also showed that only around 17 percent of users tweet on a regular basis, and 40 percent of accounts have never even sent a single tweet.
So, why are social media geeks singing Twitter’s praises? Don’t give up hope for Twitter just yet. The stats also showed that Twitter users become increasingly more active over time. It seems that Twitter is addictive, which makes it still a powerful marketing and branding tool.
Because that 17 percent of Twitter users who are ‘active’ are regularly interacting with their favorite brands, from celebrities and politicians, products and publications. What makes Twitter so powerful is that it’s a direct connection between brands and its consumers. Even if a company can get a few followers, that direct connection is worth the effort. After all, it is free. Check out some easy tips for measuring Twitter success here. You might be surprised.
Twitter users are also mostly young, in their late teens or early twenties. Companies can benefit from relating to their group on their terms, which right now mean that companies need to be online, at least a little bit. Having a Twitter account gives companies a certain cool factor.
And let’s face it: Twitter is easy. It’s simple, quick and once again FREE. So don’t worry about the statistics: Twitter could still make a difference, one follower at a time.
iDEATECA - From The Box Of Ideas From Bilbao, Spain.
filesocial – Share your files on Twitter easily, securely and completely free.
Find out more about filesocial at : http://filesocial.com/
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Hey, hey, its SATURDAY!!
I’d just like to start by thanking the stupid ass person who left their car/MONSTER TRUCK alarm RINGING FOR TWO HOURS STRAIGHT right outside my place!!! BITCH ASS BELGIAN!! I hate Belgians.
Anywhoo, Tiger’s apologized but people aren’t buying it; Hilary Duff is engaged (cool!) and Esther is still crazy. I’m getting tired of this story now, someone else needs to do something equally crazy.
Also, I watched Race to Witch Mountain yesterday – is that supposed to be a kid’s movie, because its full of explosions!! Anyway I didn’t enjoy it as much as other people seemed to, but The Rock (sidebar:DO YOU SMELL…WHAT THE ROCK… IS COOKING!!!! WWF used to be AWESOME!!) was really good in it. He’s funny. Maybe I will get someone to d/l Tooth Fairy for me hehe. Ho hum lots to do (and by ‘do’, I mean ‘watch’) so I better get on it 
So Esther was on K24 jana bringing the crazy. I’m lazy and also didn’t see it so I can’t/won’t comment. But its funny that she asked Jeff for a job, isn’t she going all (vice) presidential in ‘12!! Anyhow here are some tweets because its much easier to post these than write about this certifiable chick.
So yeah. It’s funny, but she should space out her craziness!! Come on… Otherwise she’ll be old news/completely batshit crazy (yeah, even more crazy) before the end of next week… Play your cards right, crazy!!
Guru Inspection: Touiteur Twitter App for Android
Every few months a developer comes out with another Twitter client for Android to try and take top spot. Android users used to be left in the dark when it came to good Twitter apps. Now we have apps like Tweetcaster, Seesmic, Swift, and now Touiteur (pronounced Twitter, but spelled in french) from LevelUp Studio. These are the same guys behind Beautiful Widgets for Android, so I have high hopes for this app. So I am going to put this app through the Guru Inspection and see where it lands. Hit the read more link to get the full inspection.
Touiteur is a great looking Twitter app. The bottom selection tab is sporting a gradient look and has a very nice gloss look to it. The free version comes with a standard dark theme which shows your time line in a nice dark tone. Your replies show up with the same dark tone, but with strips to indicate they are a reply, and your own Tweets show up in blue. This is really nice when quickly scanning through your main time line as it makes picking out Tweets fairly easy. The Premium version, which costs about $3.00, comes with a light theme and the use of widgets. You get a choice of three widget sizes, 4×1, 4×2, and 4×3. The widgets are very nice looking and allow you to Tweet quickly and at a glance see the latest Tweets from the people you follow.
The interface is very eye appealing and has some nice animations which set it apart from other Twitter clients for Android. When you click the Tweet button at the top, the menu drops down and “bounces” which I found really neat. Little things like that are a breath of fresh air for Android apps. Most Twitters apps for Android are a little bland with the exception of a few. Touituer is definitely a good looking app and has polish to compete or exceed what is on the Android Market currently.
Looks aren’t the only thing when it comes to Twitter apps. The app also has to have the right features to accommodate many different users preferences, likes and dislikes. Touiteur features all your standard Twitter functions, but also has multiple accounts, widget support, two themes, photo Tweeting and URL shortening. One thing that it lacks right now is threaded message view. This is a huge deal breaker for me as I use threaded messaging all the time to keep up with who replied to what. The other missing feature is video uploads, not a huge deal for me, but for some this could be a deterrent. Hopefully the developer will add these features later.
Notification options are just as important as features to a moderate to heavy Twitter user. We all have different ways we like to manage our Tweets and having the most options for notifications is always a good idea. Luckily Touiteur is no slouch when it comes to notification options. You can set the interval time as low as 3 minutes to as high as 4 hours. You can choose to be notified when you get any combination of Tweets, replies, or direct messages. You can choose to use the built in “bird chirp” sound, your own ring tone, vibrate and LED flashing to be notified when you have new messages. All in all the notification options available in Touiteur are top notch.
So does Touiteur get the Guru App seal of approval? YES it sure does! It looks good, it’s fast, you have almost all of the features you could ask for and the notifications are great! So hit the Android market ASAP and give it a try.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
They Blog, You Blog, I Blog
I was somehow moved by the article in our Developmental Reading, that I decided to search for blog-related articles on the internet. The title of the article that was given to us (about a week or two ago) is called Blogging loses its hold on the young by Martha Irvine.
I am not an active blogger in the past two years. I started several years back (in the year 2005) when I was younger, created a page at Geocities, and posted a lot of my mess there. I don’t have any idea how blogging can be a really serious thing. All I did was type away my emotions, my insights, and some of the usual things that teenagers talk about. I didn’t even want my page to be seen by the entire world. No comments, no traffics, no hit counters, just a plain unvalidated div layout (slapped on some Photohop brushes on a cropped image, typed those css codes in notepad, and presto!) created by a plain 14-year-old girl which focused on the content of her secret place. I buldozed that place down, thinking that the whole idea is reidiculous and would rather save my logs the traditional way — pen and paper, you know what to do. The rest is history now. Anyway, here are some interesting articles (blog-related articles) that are worth your time.
Stop Hating Bloggers How Often Should You Really Post? More Young People are using Twitter…Even though I now blog regularly and get some hits, I still keep up to the traditional way. After all, it all started with the pen and paper, like who couldn’t afford to miss that? Count me in. I don’t post everyday and I don’t even use twitter at all — I don’t have a twitter account, to begin with.
Anyway, it’s fun to have a blog, you get heard and you hear other people as well. You can also make friends and surprisingly, even your offline friends get to know some stuff about you, and they comment on what you post in real life.
Blogging sure evolved through these years. These days, if you don’t have a blog, it’s not like you’re out of the fad. Whether you’re a blogger or not, it’s always good to keep a record of the things that you do, the things that you think, the things that you want to say, and so on.
Misuse of APIs...
Due to availability of APIs of many leading social networking shits and comprehensive content sites, now days people waste their skill creating interface to accommodate someone else’s innovation.
When twitter has web interface to send your tweet then why some one create another web interface to send tweet through their anus?
Its like claiming someone else’s shit as their own shit.
Why don’t they put their skills into some thing innovative, productive and useful.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
N is for endoplasmic
Nobody could be as crappy as Ryan Lum! ‘N is for endoplasmic, Q is for queue.’ Bah, but still, you’re one of my best entertainer during recess! Hah, clowning together, messing with the crappiest business.
I’m pretty addicted to twitter and wordpress at this very moment, but well, seems that my sister is going have this notebook password protected. Damn it ):
I pretty hate physics graph drawing, with all the weird scales here and there. I freaking spent like hours on just 4 dumb graphs, or probably I’m the dumb one I guess. o.o Nobody would be a good girl except me to be doing all these crap on new year. And I’m all jittery for next week’s test. 3 on monday is total crap! And I have no more time to study, with all the chingay practices and performances. Speaking of chingay, anybody don’t want their chingay tickets? I won’t mind 1 or 2 more!
Time flies, and school’s back tomorrow. I just need one day more! Rant, rant, rant! :B
Sereive helps Start-Up to create more Social Networking Sites
We got a beautiful feedback yesterday, that we wanted to publish. So we asked the guy, if that is okay and if we might mention his name. He wrote back within a few hours, although I had sent my message from Australia and he is obviously in the United States. It turned out that he wasn’t only impressed by the helpfulness of Sereive, because she helps him to reduce 3 hours of work down to 10 minutes. Beyond that he wrote back in his answer, that thanks to Sereive his start-up has been able to create more social networking sites than they would have been able without her.
Read Scott’s first feedback:
I am highly impressed and love this tool. I am thankful to be one of the first 365 so that I can use it for my company activities for free…lol. You guys and gals have done a great job. I did a test posting to the sites of interest and I was extremely happy. I use to do them all by hand and i just did 3 hours of work in 10 min. So. far no issues. Looking forward to the continued development and association with this tool.
And here his answer to my question if we can use his name:
Peter–By all means please go ahead and use it in your blog and if you don’t mind adding my name, position, and company rather than anonymous I am using it for I would appreciate it. It has been so helpful with getting word out about our start up. I have created new social network sites for our company just because I have the time to do more now with having Sereive to help me manage my postings.
Thanks again guys!
v/r
Scott C. Scheidt, MBA
Director, Global Operations
www.goldstrikepoker.net
Thanks, Scott! Feedback as this doesn’t only make us happy, because we learn that we created something really useful and relevant. It also helps us spread the news. And the more users we have, the easier we can work on our mission, which is to change the way we network.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Colors of Our Lives
February 14th. Valentine’s Day. Some look forward to it; some dread it. But this year it holds another meaning as well: Chinese New Year. And color plays a big role in both of these holidays… the color red more specifically.
Cranberries and burgundys are draped from every corner of every restaurant, department store and CVS. But what do this mean? Given the time of year, it can mean many different things. For Christians, the red on a candy cane is said to signify the blood Jesus shed on the cross. Sewn together with stripes of white, the red of a flag shows American pride. The Chinese consider red lucky and wear it during weddings to scare off evil spirits.
But when do we think about this? I mean, do we really stop to think before we put on a pair of blue jeans or a yellow shirt? Or what impression we’re giving off with that green hat or orange jacket? According to Changingminds.org, we perceive a lot of emotion from each other’s routine clothing choices. Red can mean love or anger, danger or excitement. Purple is typically power, royalty or mystery. And green symbolizes harmony or freshness. (For the full list, click on the Changing Minds link).
And have you ever noticed how so many social media sites use blues in their logos? MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WordPress… all the biggies. Interesting since blue has one of the more split definitions. It can stand for professionalism, reliability and trust. Or it could mean boredom and winter coldness. Now I’m sure Dorsey and Zuckerberg were aiming for the former definition. But what made people agree with that connotation? And what made Chen, Hurley and Karim go for that reddish-orange in their YouTube logo? What does your website, blog or Twitter background say about who you are?
Colors take on even more meaning with flowers… the most common gift for Valentine’s Day. Teleflora.com shares that red roses symbolize love as well as passion and respect; pink ones mean elegance and refinement; white blossoms declare purity, truth and loyalty; yellow blooms stand for friendship and caring; orange is for enthusiasm; and surprisingly the lilac roses are the most romantic of all – love at first sight.
So don’t hand the florist your credit card before you think twice about what the flowers in your hand mean. And no, roses are not just for lovers anymore. Friends, family and roommates can all be happy recipients on this loving holiday.
Happy Valentines Day. Happy Single Awareness Day. Happy Chinese New Year. Or just Happy Sunday PReppies : )
Twitterfight: Cupid vs. the Dragon 2010
Chinese New Year falls on the same day as Valentine’s Day this year so in the spirit of fun it’s time to see which twitter hashtag is better. Valentine’s Day gets the upper hand for being celebrating in more countries than Chinese New Year.
Snapshot of #Cny & Vday trend: 13 February 1am - 14 February 12pm GMT
February 13th
#Cny trended higher than #Vday between the hours of 6am – 3pm GMT eventually reaching the daytime peak at 4pm GMT. Valentine’s Day mounted a strong comeback immediately following which just failed to edge out #Cny by a whisker.
February 14th
The day is only half over in the UK and it seems that #Vday has won out, #Cny has been getting roasted for the better part of the day and with Chinese New Year pretty much over in Asia (9pm HKT) it’s up to the overseas Chinese to continue climbing the mountain.
It is worth noting as of 12pm GMT #Vday tweets sharply fell; perhaps #Cny can ease out another win?
Happy Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year!
Twidentify: #Cny vs. Vday live graph
Saturday, February 13, 2010
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Follow the Haiti Team on Twitter
The first deployment of the Haiti Orphan Relief Team leaves for Haiti on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. One of things we’re hoping to do is keep up with the Twitter & blogs while we’re in country. I’m not exactly sure what that will look like but if you’d like to follow along here are the Twitter usernames for those on the team:
MAIN
Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT) – @haitiorphan
PERSONNEL
David Leventhal (Hope for Orphans) – @dleventhal
Paul Myhill (World Orphans) – @paulmyhill
Alan Hunt (World Orphans) – @oldmtb
Jodi Tucker (World Orphans and Christian Alliance for Orphans) – @joditucker
Jen Gash (Sweet Sleep) – @jengash
ORGANIZATIONS
World Orphans – @worldorphans
Hope for Orphans – @hopefororphans
Sweet Sleep – @sweetsleep
Christian Alliance for Orphans – @orphanalliance
(HT Paul Myhill)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Is it worth the Buzz?
Google have decided to venture into Social Networks with the creation of Google Buzz which has set the world wide web, well, a buzz with talk of how this could be the next big thing.
So what’s the big deal? Basically you can automatically follow the people you normally email and chat with the most in Gmail. You’ll be able to publish your ideas to the world or just to your closest friends, it’s your call. And any comments you receive will be sent directly to your inbox so you can’t miss them. You also have thumbnails with each post and you can browse full screen pictures from websites and import stuff from your Twitter, Google reader, Flickr and Picasa accounts. All of the updates are real time and of course Buzz recommends the most interesting things and the ones you should be avoiding.
But let’s be honest, whilst it’s great they’ve chosen to integrate all your favourite social networks into one space, they’ve forgotten one rather important one, Facebook. Will this stand in the way of Googles world domination? Only time will tell!
Oh and be sure to check us out on Google Buzz.
Attention Stalkers: Google Has Just Made Your Jobs Easier
Photo: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=3212378
Google presented Google Buzz, a social networking source that is Facebook’s new competitor. In the WebNewser article, “Google Officially Introduces Google Buzz,” David Cohen mentioned that it takes Gmail users and enables them to share photos, videos and links from other social networking sites. It also has an additional feature that allows people to see where other people are posting.
Social networking is a convenient way for people to gossip and, even, keep up with the news. Follow the Huffington Post on Twitter and you’ll get an update every minute or so. Now, Google Buzz enters the arena armed with even more handy features. Users can post from anywhere and show readers/followers/friends where s/he was at the time.
I understand that this is evolution in the works and it has real potential for journalism, but have we gone too far? Do we really need to know what Britney Spears ate for breakfast? Is that really news or is it merely “junk food” for the brain?
Nonetheless, today’s consumers are spoiled. With the touch of a button, lists appear and you can choose from various news sources for the latest headlines or figure out the closest Chinese takeout location. If I owned a smartphone, I’m sure I would also be taking advantage of this feature. Nevertheless, today’s technology provides information that is readily available in the palm of your hand. People live in a world of “now” which makes journalists positions more competitive. Instead of taking the time to research, fact-check and critique a story, journalists need to sacrifice accuracy for immediacy. Now people can pin point where the action is, geographically. The question is: Will people care?
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Ad Agency Draw 63,000+ Twitter Users for BrandBowl 2010
The Mullen advertising agency, and Radian6, a leader in social media measurement, created BrandBowl2010, a Twitter/Super Bowl experience that combined tweeting, ad reviews and a host of metrics to let viewers generate and view real time ratings of the TV commercials that ran on the big game.
“According to the 63,000+ Twitter users whose comments were captured in BrandBowl2010, Doritos was the most effective brand to advertise on the Super Bowl telecast on CBS this year. Budweiser Select55 was the least effective brand.
The results were determined from a total of 98,656 Tweets collected at BrandBowl2010. The site provided an overall ranking of the brands advertising on the game based on a composite score that takes into consideration both volume of tweets and sentiment (positive or negative).” Brandbowl 2010
A great idea for ad agency new business …Mullen offered the last place finisher in BrandBowl2010 — Budweiser Select55 — free creative services to help them make a better Super Bowl commercial next year and they are serious with their offer.
Additional articles regarding ad agency promotion:
- Ad Agency’s Super Bowl Party Generates National Attention
- “Mindsalt – Magic ‘09 Ball” Used to Promote Ad Agency
- The First of Five Ways to Promote Your Agency Using Social Media
- The Second of Five Ways to Promote Your Agency Using Social Media
- The Third of Five Ways to Promote Your Agency Using Social Media
- The Fourth of Five Ways to Promote Your Ad Agency Using Social Media
- The Fifth of Five Ways to Promote Your Agency Using Social Media
- Ad Agency Creates Online Film Festival on YouTube
- Social Media Marketing Map Used For Ad Agency’s New Business
- Promoting Your Ad Agency Using Twitter?
- Using Video to Promote Your Ad Agency
How 3D Virtual Worlds Can Be More Like Twitter And Facebook
Facebook and Twitter have taught us that people of all ages love to utilize the web for self-expression, connecting and staying in touch. 3D virtual worlds have similar characteristics: the ability for self-expression via customized avatars and the creation of your own ‘island’; the ability to connect with friends (or meet people you’d never get a chance to meet in the real world); and the ability to be part of a vibrant community.
In addition, 3D virtual worlds offer a fully immersive environment, that allows you to escape from the real world – and, experience virtual representations of real-world locations. For virtual worlds experiencing declining usage, however, “community” becomes a challenge to maintain (i.e. imagine using Facebook when none of your friends or family are using it).
Mark Kingdon (in-world: “M Linden“), the CEO of Linden Lab, laid out his vision of Second Life’s evolution, tying it in with the recent acquisition of Avatars United.
M. Linden on Community:
“When we talk to the users who sign up but then decide not to stay, they say they left, in part, because they had a hard time finding people to hang out with. Either their friends weren’t there, or they have a hard time meeting new ones inworld, or sometimes both. We need to fix this.”
M. Linden on Social Sharing:
“Another part of the “social glue” of any community is the concept of sharing. Inworld, it’s easy to share and we’ll make it even easier. But sharing between Second Life and the larger social Web is not as easy. As an avid photographer (well, aspiring to be avid), I’d love to be able to easily share my snapshots from Second Life with my friends on other Web services, and be able to watch a feed of the people I’m interested in.”
Reaction
Kingdon’s blog posting generated a wealth of comments from the Second Life community – I’d characterize the comments as mixed to fairly positive. My own reaction to the blog posting was very positive – my use of Second Life (and other virtual worlds) would increase based on my knowledge of in-world events/happenings attended by members of my social graph.
Here are my thoughts on how to increase community engagement and social sharing in a 3D virtual world.
Direct Integration with Twitter, Facebook
With Avatars United, according to Kingdon, “you’ll start to build an activity feed (similar to Facebook or Twitter) that keeps you in closer touch with the people you’re connected to in Second Life.” While I see value in a single feed that aggregates content from multiple social networks, I see equal (if not more) value in direct integration of Twitter, Facebook, etc., into the virtual world.
The Twitter API and Facebook Connect make doing so fairly straightforward. A B2B company with an island in Second Life may want to integrate a Twitter stream that displays tweets related to the company. Similarly, the company could prompt visitors to tweet about their visit and have that message be distributed to all of the visitor’s followers on Twitter.
By enabling this, the owner of the island generates “free” promotion to the social web – and, the underlying platform gains wider reach as well. A relevant analogy is Ustream’s Social Stream, which allows viewers to “chat with your friends over Twitter” while they’re viewing a live video.
On the Facebook front, imagine if the virtual world platform enabled Facebook Connect, thus allowing residents to sign in to Facebook and find a list of their Facebook friends who are also residents. Then, imagine showing users a real-time list of their Facebook friends who are in-world right now, with “links” to teleport to the friends’ locations.
Borrowing from another popular service (Foursquare or Gowalla), the virtual world platform could enable residents to “check in” at different locations (islands). Broadcasting their whereabouts to their social graph may result in more “planned encounters” within the virtual world. If my friends just checked in to “virtual island”, I may choose to teleport and join them there if I happen to be free.
“I Like It!”
Virtual worlds could create a stronger “shared experience” by allowing visitors to leave a trail of breadcrumbs reflecting their visited locations. If I “friend” someone in-world – or, if an in-world resident is a Facebook friend of mine, then I might want to follow the path they took during their last session. Additionally, the platform could support location endorsements, in the same way Facebook allows me to “like” a friend’s wall posting.
As I enter a location in the virtual world, I can see whether members of my social graph previously visited – and, what their comments were. Alternatively, I could see a list of all past visitors – with a link to view their in-world avatar and profile. If a past visitor panned a location, but I enjoyed it, allow me to send an offline message to that user, who can read my message the next time she logs in. This allows me to connect with other users even when they’re not online (a form of virtual world email).
Source: flickr (User: Indiewench)
Virtual World Closed-Circuit TV
Business owners leverage closed-circuit TV technology to perform surveillance of their store front or office. Wouldn’t a similar service be useful for virtual world residents, especially those who “own” an island? While we tend to be online during our waking hours, it may not be practical to be in-world all the time. How about a virtual world thin client – it provides a read-only “view” of a given location, similar to closed-circuit TV.
Since it doesn’t allow you to navigate, teleport, interact with others, etc. – the client is entirely lightweight and can sit in a corner of your desktop with only a portion of the CPU/RAM consumed by the full-blown client. So if you’re interested in a given location, the closed-circuit TV can alert you to visitors – and with one click, the thin client can launch the full client and teleport you to the location.
Services (like this one) that can instantaneously connect users are a win-win – they generate more logins to the platform and enable more connections, upon which a stronger sense of community develops. Alternatively, the virtual world platform can provide even more lightweight notification mechanisms: it can generate an email, Twitter direct message or Facebook email whenever a user enters a designated space. The notification could contain a link that teleports the recipient into that space to connect with the current visitor(s).
Embed Web Content In-World
As Twitter and Facebook have demonstrated, users of social services are inclined to share interesting content, often in the form of web links. Within a virtual world, “sharing” often results in the launching of a web browser to render the shared page. Why not provide sharing capabilities that render the shared content on an in-world wall or projection screen? This keeps users engaged, while retaining their attention in-world. Building upon this, I may want to look up Facebook friends and be taken to all locations in which they shared content in-world (as I have an interest in what my friends are reading and sharing).
On Demand TV (for Virtual Worlds)
Facebook has a great utility that allows me to record a video on my laptop’s webcam, upload it to Facebook and share it on Facebook. Virtual world platforms should enable users to press a “record” button and have their current session saved for later playback. Perhaps I’m attending an in-world concert or watching a keynote presentation – capturing a recording of the session allows me to share it with members of my social graph who weren’t able to attend. Treet TV provides similar services (with professional quality) – this capability empowers end users to create on-demand programming with the click of a mouse.
Conclusion
3D virtual worlds have a lot to offer already – by adopting useful social sharing services, they can tap into the phenomenon (social media) that’s the force behind many of ftoday’s most popular web sites.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Teacher Gets A Report Card
Image by jessica @ flickr via Flickr
There’s been a lot of chatter recently about ways to assess teachers.
Some say that principals and other supervisors do a lousy job assessing teachers because they don’t have the time, the training, or the inclination.
Others say it should not be totally up to principals because they play favorites, are vindictive, or have some other agenda.
My first two years teaching I worked for a principal like that. Now her school is being shut down.
Some say that the scores students get on standardized tests should be used to rate teachers.
Image by COCOEN daily photos via Flickr
The President of the United States says that’s the way to do it.
Which just goes to show how little he understands about education, about assessment and about motivation.
The people who go to elite private schools never really get what education is like for the rest of us, especially those of us who work or learn in inner city or rural schools which, counter-intuitively, have a lot in common.
At the present time there doesn’t seem to be a really accurate, workable way to assess teacher effectiveness, at least not one that can be applied to all teachers.
I give the task of assessing my teaching to the people who see it every day and for whom it is most crucial that I do it well: my students.
At the end of each quarter, when I have to determine and enter their grade for the quarter into our data system, I ask my students to give me a grade, to give me a report card.
I tell the students they do not have to put their names on the paper, but I want their assessment of me in writing.
I let them pick the criteria and determine how their assessment will be expressed.
Some make elaborate report cards with various categories, letter or number grades, and comments.
Others just write one sentence.
The first time the students assess me I get excellent marks. By the second quarter, when they see I take this very seriously, they are more critical.
My sixth grade class can be VERY chatty and a majority of the students in it told me I should be stricter. Even some of the chattiest ones said that.
Image by isurusen via Flickr
They also told me they liked the projects I give them to do, that they like that I give them choices about how to do things and what kind of presentations to do. They want more parties.
Many of my colleagues who I know only through Twitter thought this was a great idea but one, Glen Westbrook, said that he knows some teachers who would be very worried about letting students have a say.
I have a message for those teachers:
All students assess their teachers every minute of every day.
Our grades are delivered as behavior.
The students who do the work, obey the rules and get good grades are saying they like, or at least can tolerate, the way you teach.
The others, those kids who are not engaged, not doing the work or otherwise acting out are delivering a different message.
Its not an easy message to receive.
It’s a lot easier to blame the students, their parents, the community or the administration.
Next time, before you bad mouth anyone else, take a look in the mirror and ask this question:
Image by wetwebwork via Flickr
Am I teaching my students the same way I’d teach my own child? Do I teach the way I want my child’s teachers to teach?
Think carefully before you answer. Be honest.
Or hope your students will be when you ask them.
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OBLITERATI: SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK PARTY
My last stop for social media week was the obliterati at R Bar. Those I was a little upset that I missed the swag bag (darn NJ to NY commute). But I must say it was a nice night. Saw a few people that I met from earlier events. And that is always nice. I went with my friend Zay so that help with mingling with the crowd. I had the chance to meet some people in different fields.
Topic of Conversation
I also had a good conversation with a group of developers about twitter followers. Now what the particular developer was say was someone told him they were a social media expert simply due to the large number of followers that they have. I thought this was upsurd so I had to join the conversation. So we’re standing there have this conversation that by simply having a large following doesn’t make you a social media expert, how companies need a better understanding of what exactly social media is, how people claim to be experts in everything now-a-days and as we were talking I was thinking this is what social media we is all about getting together and having a conversation, learning, and sharing ideas with people who are in your profession as well as those who aren’t.
Networking
Through out the night I met other people and collected business cards (a total of seven for the evening) . The key thing is to email, make real connections and have them as a resource. That way I can better help my clients. Often times its about who you know in this business that will give you that extra boost that you need.
Final Thoughts
Overall I have to say that I had fun doing my social media week experience. Next year I do hope that I am able to attend more events. I hope that everyone who attended was able to leave with some god information and had a chance to network and have fun.
Happy Flying
~Solo Dove~
Saturday, February 6, 2010
jumping onto the 'social' bandwagon
If you’re involved in social media efforts within your company, are trying to carve out a niche as a social media pro, or just want to understand what this new space is all about, personal web projects are crucial to honing your skills. Here are some tips for making your personal web efforts an effective part of your ongoing professional development:
Keep it personal. Choose a subject or focus that is completely (and I mean completely) unrelated to your work. That could mean creating a collection of nature photos on Flickr, a blog about local restaurants, or a Twitter roundup of the latest electronic gadgets — unless you work for an ecological organization, a retail distributor or, say, General Electric! It’s great to have passions that intersect with your professional life, but if you do a social media project that is even vaguely related to your job, your employer (or their customers) may hold you accountable for the results. And that’s not a safe sandbox to play in.
Be cautious. Personal doesn’t mean intimate. If you’re thinking about a project that involves your family, think carefully about the safety implications. Until you are really fluent in social media, err on the side of caution by keeping private your family stories private or at least anonymous.
Start simple. Create your social media project on a fully hosted service so that you don’t have to sort out the complexities of setting up your own site. WordPress.com , Flickr and Twitter are all good starting options.
Give yourself room to grow. Choose a platform that will let you extend your project in new ways and try out new tools. Get going with Flickr or Twitter, and you can explore a world of tools and applications that complement those services. If you start with a WordPress blog, you can move your blog onto a web host that gives you more control over your blog’s set up.
Give yourself a budget. While you can do lots of great stuff for free online, you’ll have more possibilities — and perhaps more fun — if you give yourself a modest budget. You might want to spend ten or twenty dollars a month buying stock images to illustrate your blog; pay for a service that gives you more information about your Twittering efforts; or upgrade your blog to a custom URL.
Go easy on yourself. The social web can be a great place to get support or enforce your commitment to a personal goal like building your own log cabin or reading all of Proust. But if you focus on a challenge that is already daunting, you’re less likely to stick with it. You’ll find most of your energy is focused on sticking to your resolve, rather than exploring and learning.
Be a night owl (or an early bird). You’ll learn the most from your social media experiment if you’re prepared to make a few mistakes — installing widgets that don’t work right, making design changes that look terrible, embedding multimedia content that doesn’t display. It’s a lot less scary to make those mistakes early in the morning or late at night, when fewer people are likely to be visiting your site.
Find a community. Explore the sites and web presences of other hobbyists (or experts) in your space to see what they are talking about and what online tools they use. Introduce yourself and comment on their photos, videos or posts — and encourage them to take a look at what you’re up to, too.
Balance tech with content Some people use their personal web projects as a chance to geek out and try specialized tools and software, and upgrade their tech knowledge. Others focus on the content — shooting the perfect video, writing the world’s most articulate blog post, snapping the greatest high-speed photos. But you’ll learn the most if you divide your attention between content and technology, and develop both your creative and technical skills.
Be prepared to own your project. Even if you’ve created a totally anonymous personal project, assume that sooner or later you could be unmasked. Make sure that whatever you post online, you’re prepared to live up to it at Monday’s staff meeting.
Follow these guidelines and your personal web projects will become an effective and ongoing part of your professional development.
Bro. Eli Soriano Appeals to Twitter Followers to be Educational on Their Tweets
Twitter has become an online sensation of many people today because its accessibility is not only available online with a PC but with mobile phones as well. A very popular Internet Evangelist in the person of Bro. Eli Soriano appeals to his followers to be educational on their “tweets”.
Hour after hour, the 62 year old preacher has been posting his twits to thousands of his followers on twitter. With just two weeks of using the application. Bro. Eli Soriano had already gained 3,800 followers who was able to read his short twits about lesson in life and reminders base on the scriptures. On one of his recent twits, he reminded people to “be friendly in the hauz of tweets”.
“Is the hauz penetrated by spies? Let’s all be friendly in the hauz of tweets!” Bro. Eli Soriano
This appeal was supported by concerned followers and promised to adhere to what the evangelist said. Prior to twitting, Bro. Eli Soriano maintains a blog, a Youtube Channel, his own website, podcast and 24/7 Internet broadcast. Bro. Eli Soriano has become the most prominent Online Evangelist of his time.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
"Declarações" de Lula em Twitter turbinam ações da Telebrás
As “tuitadas” do representante da Associação Software Livre,org, Marcelo Branco, que do dia para a noite tornou-se porta-voz do presidente Lula, ao revelar declarações dele sobre a reativação da Telebrás, gerou nesta quarta-feira, 03/03, um volume de negócios com as ações preferenciais da estatal (com direito à voto e em lotes de mil ações), no mercado à vista da Bovespa, da ordem de R$ 224,6 milhões.Para se ter uma idéia do que isso representa – um único dia de especulação financeira dos acionistas da Telebras suspostamente embasados nas declarações de Lula postadas no Twiiter por Marcelo Branco – o volume de negócios da estatal foi maior do que todo o esforço de investimentos feitos pelo Serpro e pela Dataprev ao longo de 2009, respectivamente, R$ 131,3 milhões, e R$ 186,3 milhões.
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Featured Story Teens Just Don’t Blog or Tweet [STATS]
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Social Media A new study published today by Pew Internet finds that teens and young adults are blogging less and using social networking sites more, with the prominent exception of Twitter.
Pew’s Report surveyed 2,253 American adults and 800 U.S. teens to get a reading of how they use the internet, which gadgets they own, and which social media tools they
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010
3 must-have marketing tools for small businesses
Small businesses naturally gravitate to tools and strategies that quickly generate revenue without incurring significant costs. So it’s no surprise that web-based marketing technologies have become a boon to small businesses because of their low cost and ease of use. Tools that are purpose-built for small businesses project a more professional image and deliver a richer set of management and monitoring capabilities than online tools targeted to consumers, which are often ad-supported and limited in function.
The essential small business marketing tools described below encourage stronger customer relationships and are easy to use and affordable, which makes them must-have tools in the small business marketer’s toolkit.
Email marketingDespite critics who have called email marketing’s effectiveness into question, email marketing continually delivers the highest ROI for any marketing method. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing delivered $43.62 for every dollar spent in 2009.
What makes email marketing so effective? It’s simple: permission and relevant content. This means that the recipient is looking forward to receiving messages and considers the content of the emails to be beneficial. For marketers, this translates into a pre-qualified list of prospects and returning customers. All you need to do to keep them is stay in touch with content that is compelling and useful.
Businesses can achieve several important goals with email marketing, but the most important are strong, lasting customer relationships. With email marketing, you can consistently communicate your expertise, your offerings, and your brand, thereby building trust and recognition. When the time comes for customers to make purchases, they’ll naturally turn to the businesses they’re familiar with and loyal to, and they’re more likely to recommend those businesses to others.
Online surveysThe most successful small business owners understand that listening to their customers is critically important. Yet, it’s not always practical to engage in one-on-one conversations to find out what every customer is thinking. That’s where online surveys come in. Online survey tools allow you to easily request anonymous feedback from your customers at their convenience.
Whether conducted frequently, such as after a purchase, event, or customer service issue, or just once a year, surveys are an excellent way to glean valuable information about your customers’ satisfaction, experience with your business, or feedback on your product. For example, a retailer might survey his customers to find out what product lines they’d like to see expanded. A consultant could survey customers to learn what marketing challenges are most important to them for 2010. In both cases, the survey results will help guide important business decisions that neither business owner may have determined without the help of the customer base.
Another benefit of online surveys is the opportunity for your customers to feel like they’re a part of your business. In fact, asking customers about the best way to communicate with them — either via email, Facebook, Twitter, or some other mode or combination — is a great first step in gathering useful feedback. By opening up a two-way dialogue and inviting them to offer suggestions and constructive criticism, your customers feel that they’re contributing to your success. Knowing that you took their advice or considered their feedback creates a sense of loyalty that will naturally lead to longer and stronger relationships.
Your social network of choiceEverywhere you turn these days, someone is talking about Facebook, retweeting Ashton Kutcher’s latest comment, or asking you to connect on LinkedIn. While all the hype can seem a bit frivolous, the business benefits of social networks are very real. Countless small business owners have made valuable connections, including new customers, through their participation in social networks.
Participation is the key to success when it comes to social media. Much like email marketing, you must first offer real value before you can expect to get anything in return. Simply being there isn’t going to place your brand at the center of the conversation. You first have to establish your credibility as a member of the community and a legitimate expert in your field.
Establish yourself as a resource by sharing your knowledge. This may mean linking to your blog posts, media coverage of your product or business, or your email newsletter. You can easily add value and show you “get it” by offering your thoughts and commenting on another’s blog post or tweet, or by answering a question on LinkedIn Answers.
Once you’ve committed to a particular mode of communication, be consistent in using it. Frequency of communications is always a challenge for busy small businesses owners, but a regular effort to communicate will help deliver your message most effectively. Eventually, your audience will begin to anticipate your outreach and even look forward to your next tweet, post, update, or newsletter.
Low cost, high returnToday’s small businesses face an ongoing battle for mindshare among their target consumers. These low cost, high return marketing tools provide small businesses with the advantage they need to cut through the noise and get their messages heard without breaking their budget.
Credit: Eric Groves – senior vice president of global market development for Constant Contact Inc.
Just Tweet It
Twitter is the most convenient and most effective social networking tool when it comes to internet marketing. The question now is, how much time should you spend on Twitter?
If you are an entrepreneur who is into internet marketing, you have probably seen the transformation of internet marketing from emailing to twittering.
A few years back, if you have something to say, you will send an email to all your clients, potential clients and to strangers. And you are doing it for the whole day. From the time you boot up your computer until you shut it down at the end of the day.
Now, if you have something to say, just tweet it.
If you have new promotions, just tweet it.
If you want to update your network with your new products, just tweet it.
And at the end of the day, you realize that you have actually spent your all day in twitter while you are in a seminar, business meeting, and even while driving your way home.
If you want to maximize your time, just tweet it.
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