facebook log

Facebook for news?

2010-03-22T14:34:00.000+02:00

I came across a few very interesting statistics today, from mediapost.com, which show that Facebook directs more traffic to news sites than Google Reader and Google News. More importantly for news websites, 78% people linked to a news site from Facebook will visit the site again, compared to a 64% return rate from Google News.

The trend continues when broadcast news sites are examined (e.g. CNN)- 77% return from Facebook, and 64% will return if linked from a Google site.

I was shocked to read that Twitter only directs 0.14% of a news site’s traffic, until I read that the survey only examined links from twitter.com, when most Twitter users use software or another client.

Google.com still directs more traffic to news sites than any other site, but I think news sites will concern themselves mostly with the loyality of visitors, and according to this piece of research, the loyal visitors are being linked from Facebook.

[Via http://ciaranighabhann.wordpress.com]

FREE LISTING! Don't Miss This Great Opportunity!

2010-03-22T06:04:00.000+02:00

Just go to http://www.hotspotla.com and on the front page hit the free listing button and fill out the free listing form. Don’t forget to look around the site, we are growing. We have great marketing tools for subscribers to market to the social networks, via a very powerful Blog, email blasts, video commercials, and splash websites, all help with the optimization of your business. Our commitment is to help business create more traffic into there business, weather it be a brick and mortar store, a website or just calling! Please contact, info below.

Barry Smith

HotspotLA.com

Office: 562-927-7296 Cell: 818-635-5363

E: barry@hotspotla.com

[Via http://officialhotspotla.wordpress.com]

Edgewood Chamber of Commerce’s Welcome Wagon

2010-03-19T06:45:00.000+02:00

POSTED AS A COMMUNITY SERVICE BY GADABOUT-BLOGALOT

Edgewood Chamber of Commerce’s Welcome Wagon

Hello Chamber Members! What a beautiful day God blessed us with today!! We have 2 new members to the Edgewood Chamber of Commerce! Please add them to your contact lists so you can network with them.

The Edgewood Chamber of Commerce would like to welcome Little John’s Towing! Little John’s Towing has 24-hour service including weekends. They not only tow they provide tire changes, lock-out service, storage, jump starts and gas runs. Add this number to your cell phone: 832-9457 or 259-7744. Trust me…when you need these services, you never have a phone book handy! Little John’s Towing also has a web site: www.littlejohnstowing.com . We are so pleased to add Little John’s Towing to our membership.

The Edgewood Chamber of Commerce would like to also welcome Park & Shine. Park & Shine is a mobile automobile appearance service. Their services include: detailing, scratch & dent repair, windshield star repair, headlight restoration, and interior repair. What a great service since we don’t have a car wash in Edgewood…they come to you!! Park & Shine’s contact information is: 281-3010 or 321-3599. They also have a great web site: www.parknshine.com . Welcome to the Edgewood Chamber Park & Shine! Wishing you all a great day!

Robin Foshee, Executive Director

Edgewood Chamber of Commerce

505-286-2577 office 505-948-6963 cell

Check us out on Facebook!!!

New password-stealing virus targets Facebook

2010-03-19T06:43:00.000+02:00

Hackers have flooded the Internet with virus-tainted spam that targets Facebook’s estimated 400 million users in an effort to steal banking passwords and gather other sensitive information.

The emails tell recipients that the passwords on their Facebook accounts have been reset, urging them to click on an attachment to obtain new login credentials, according to anti-virus software maker McAfee Inc.

If the attachment is opened, it downloads several types of malicious software, including a program that steals passwords, McAfee said on Wednesday.

Hackers have long targeted Facebook users, sending them tainted messages via the social networking company’s own internal email system. With this new attack, they are using regular Internet email to spread their malicious software.

A Facebook spokesman said the company could not comment on the specific case, but pointed to a status update the company posted on its web site earlier on Wednesday warning users about the spoofed email and advising users to delete the email and to warn their friends.

McAfee estimates that hackers sent out tens of millions of spam across Europe, the United States and Asia since the campaign began on Tuesday.

Dave Marcus, McAfee’s director of malware research and communications, said that he expects the hackers will succeed in infecting millions of computers.

“With Facebook as your lure, you potentially have 400 million people that can click on the attachment. If you get 10 percent success, that’s 40 million,” he said.

The email’s subject line says “Facebook password reset confirmation customer support,” according to Marcus.

[Via http://newshyderabad.wordpress.com]

Facebook gets search auto suggest feature

2010-03-17T06:43:00.000+02:00

Top US site Facebook is finally cutting down on the need to type whole words (BEd: It’s reall annoyin in thi day an age) when searching by integrating an auto complete function. What this means is that, after entering a few letters into the search bar, a drop-down menu will appear with suggestions on people, events, groups and Pages you’re connected with or on more general results.

“If you don’t see what you are looking for in the drop-down menu, you can go to the search results page by selecting “See More Results” from the bottom of the drop-down menu. You’ll be taken to the full results, where you can sort by different categories and refine your search further,” explained Facebook engineer Wayne Kao.

The search auto suggest feature is currently being implemented so it can take a few days before it becomes available to you

[Via http://vladsim.wordpress.com]

Facebook surpasses Google in the US

2010-03-17T06:27:00.000+02:00

Online competitive intelligence service Experian Hitwise has concluded that the week ended March 13 has seen Facebook pass Google in terms of popularity, in the US.The super popular social network (Facebook) has claimed the top spot in the US before but only on certain days (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’ Day), so beating Google for a whole week is certainly a big milestone.

Both sites were head-to-head though, with Facebook.com capturing 7.07% of all visits made by US web surfers, while Google.com held a 7.03% share. Looking at growth, Facebook has jumped 185% compared to the same week in 2009, but Google only went up 9% and the trend is likely to continue. Google will probably just have to get used to being number two.

[Via http://vladsim.wordpress.com]

How to Avoid Spoiling Your Audience's Appetite

2010-03-15T06:45:00.000+02:00

Back in grade school, children and teens alike took to trends as fads. Whether it was the MC Hammer Pants or the throat-constricting turtlenecks, we’ve all been there. At the time, these fads were the center of our worlds but I’ve since them learned that they always end up in the Salvation Army bin by the end of the year. Like fruits, fads often spoil when you least expect it, even when you’re aware that it’s still there.

Spoiled fruit can upset a stomach, but what about spoiled methods? Is your way to communicate outdated if not expired? Why not give your audience something new to taste?

Cross-networking in the twenty-first century has become an easy way for businesses and groups to broaden the borders of their website. Networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Ning allow users to hold events in their local communities, promote their products or services, and encourage followers to “fan” their pages. Bloggers on WordPress and Blogspot can add widgets to track their followers and add links of their other networks to the sidebar so that their audience may be directed to one of their other designated sites. Each site works hand in hand with the other, allowing followers and fans alike to jump from one destination to another, tasting every possible stream of information that you share. These interconnected networks are like cross-bred hybrid fruits: new and refreshing for the parched throat. Definitely a fruit to be savored, not left out to rot.

[Via http://socialmediafruit.wordpress.com]

CBS' free throw for March Madness

2010-03-15T06:42:00.000+02:00

With free live streaming, CBS has managed to collect $37 million in ad revenue with 2010 NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD). It’s the “only major sports event that is broadcast live and in its entirety for free on the Internet“. With 7.52 million unique visitors in 2009, no wonder advertisers like Warner Bros. are willing to spend the big bucks. But how does MMOD attract so many users?

First of all, there is a share tab that connects to all major social media including Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo! Buzz, StumbleUpon, Digg, and an RSS feed. It’s about giving consumers what they want, and for free. A high quality video option with picture-in-picture capabilities is available in addition to the standard player. And the Developer Platform allows any publisher to link directly to the MMOD video player. CNN, ESPN, and Facebook are ready to take advantage of this, as well as many smaller publishers.

And then there’s the Boss Button. If you click on it now, the above image will appear on your screen informing you that it has not been unveiled yet. However, it promises to provide a “business-like” image to instantly hide the video player from your boss if you are watching at work.

If this isn’t good enough, you can download the Premium NCAA MMOD iPhone app for $9.99.

[Via http://saracaissie.wordpress.com]

The Conversation That Never Sleeps....

2010-03-12T06:54:00.000+02:00

Social media is a conversation; it’s a number of platforms, a set of tools that enables conversation, engagement, transferal of thoughts, ideas and information…

It’s New York New York…the City that never sleeps

Its Old Man River…it just keeps rolling

It’s a neverending networking event!

So many times I hear ‘I’d like to try Twitter, give it a go, see what it’s all about, but I don’t have the time’ and I say ‘just dip in and join in the conversation…you can dip in and out, or you can stay around a bit longer, make some contacts, read some interesting stuff you won’t see anywhere else’

I believe it changes the way we communicate, because there’s no end! If you phone someone – a client, a candidate, a contact – then there’s a beginning and an end to the call, and if you want to move forward you need to conclude with an action. You can’t just pick up the phone an hour later and say something else.

But with social media, there’s always a chance to pick up the conversation, anytime! Whatever you talk about, you’re engaging with people. As long as you’ve got something interesting, engaging, informative or just plain funny to say, then people won’t mind hearing from you.

There are very few HR professionals and recruiters from the UK on Twitter, which is a shame. I would love to be able to build an online rapport with them. I speak to many in the US and chat about all sorts of things. I have often asked them ‘if I was US based, then you could well be my client or my candidate – if that was the case, how would you feel about the conversations that we have?’

They usually tell me that it wouldn’t make any difference, that the business and personal can easily mix…this is who I am, take me or leave me. They feel the same about Facebook. In the UK though I think it’s a bit different, it’s more…

No Facebook Please, We’re British!

Will it change? I think it will, eventually!

So for this post I’m going to throw down the challenge to everyone from the UK reading this who is not blogging, tweeting, contributing to groups on Linked In, or generally joining in the conversation…

Come on in, the water’s fine….!

[Via http://mervyndinnen.wordpress.com]

What Will The Employers Think?

2010-03-12T06:53:00.000+02:00

After being ousted from my last writing job, I decided to pull a Conan and take my act on the road, er…Internet….via my own blog.

Naturally, it’s not going to rub all potential employers the right way. After all, I often rift on the entire concept of finding a job because I find the whole concept pretty ridiculous.

I mean here you have millions of people out of work vying for like 2,000 jobs.

And there are a lot of hypocrisies with finding a job:

- Employers demand error-free cover letters and resumes, yet I find typos in their own job ads.

- We’re told as job hunters to always show up on time for an interview, yet interviewers are often late.

- Some employers want samples before granting an interview, yet if you give them an inch, they want a mile.

In this day and age of Google, Facebook, and background checks, you have to be careful what you put online.

I mean, hey I’m not stupid. Whoever is going to consider me for a job will do a search online see what comes up.

They’ll find this blog, and hopefully they’ll see that Willblogforlols is an unemployment blog that takes a look at the lighter side of finding a job.

Now like I mentioned before, not everyone’s going to like what I write. They may find some of the content on my blog offensive and not appropriate for someone who’s seeking a job.

Some may even say that this blog could sabotage my chances of getting a job.

But you know what I say?

You have to have a sense of humor about all this.

They have a have a sense of humor about all this.

It’s sort of like rushing a fraternity, where you have to suck up in order to get in, and take whatever crap comes your way.

I think most employers will get that, and those that don’t, well, maybe I just don’t belong at a company that doesn’t believe in having a sense of humor.

This is a forum where I can express myself, be creative, and blow off some steam about this career nightmare.

I know this particular post wasn’t particularly funny…more of an editorial.

So I’ll leave you with an LOL.

Why’d the chicken cross the road?

It had no choice. It got hit by a Prius and the owner couldn’t stop .

*****

[Via http://willblogforlols.com]

Foursquare og Gowalla er pionerer

2010-03-10T14:41:00.000+02:00

…for mobilens relevans-potentiale i Danmark

Mobilen som høj-relevant medie

I dialogbranchen hvor Undertegnede samt min medskribent er opvokset og pt. boltrer sig, tales der meget om relevans. Det er en af disciplinens vigtigste byggeklodser. Der sigtes således oftest på kommunikative elementer, som med størst sandsynlighed har relevans for den enkelte – eller i hvert fald lugter af det. Det kunne i praksis være segmenterede tilbagemeldings-mails på baggrund af surveys, direct mails på baggrund af bopælskommune eller tilrettede mysites på baggrund af online adfærd. Mulighederne er mange.

Hvor on- og offline mailings, surveys, Mypages og SMS er disciplinens grand old men, vil jeg plædere for, at mobilen som seriøs kanal først nu er ved at bryde igennem for alvor og i den grad er brugbar i en relevans-kontekst.

Jo, jo, der har i mange år været tale om Mobile Marketing, med SMS som drivkraft, ligesom WAP netværket har leveret spil og andre web-tjenester. Men mobilen har været betragtet som et værktøj i en isoleret niche, hvor en en inbound og/eller outbound SMS er grundelementet i kampagnen. I den integrerede marketing-proces giver dette bestemt visse muligheder i en given kampagne. Men som relevant tværmedialt dialogværktøj er mulighederne få. Og det er naturligvis ikke kun en mangel på forståelse for dialog eller kreativitet hos de mange mobil-løsnings leverandører, vi kan bebrejde – den teknologiske udvikling bærer også en del af skylden. Vi er blevet lovet guld og grønne skove af diverse mobil-selskaber længe, men som med så meget andet der kommer derfra, har det været varm luft.

Men vi har nu påbegyndt en ny æra, hvor mobiltelefonen i bedste Macluhan- stil i sandhed bliver en forlængelse af det menneskelige legeme. En æra hvor ringefunktionen er blevet et tertiært produkt. Jeg betragter da heller ikke længere mit Iphone abonnement som et mobilabonnement men derimod som et medie-abonnement. Det er først nu, at mange af vores våde drømme om mobilen som brugbar dialog-utility går i opfyldelse – også i et marketingperspektiv. De mange smartphones og de yderst brugbare applikationer i den fyldige Itunes app-store er konkrete eksempler på udbredelse. Ja, selv det stigende antal af smartphones-besøg på min arbejdsplads hjemmside er et solidt hint.

De 4 elementer der har udløst mobilens relevans-potentiale i Danmark

Vi har vidst længe, at mobiltelefonen havde et uudløst potentiale her i Danmark. Vi har jo kunne skæve mod Østen og USA, hvor mulighederne (som altid) er mange flere. Men det er altså først nu, at en egentlig potentiel høj “relevans-værdi” i brugen af mobilenheder i Danmark er blevet udløst. Jeg har i den sammenhæng identificeret de fire grundelementer, som jeg mener , har gjort dette muligt:

1. Teknologien fungerer godt nok til uproblematisk og gnidningsfri brug

2. Applikationerne er (vel-)udviklet

3. Brugerne er beviste om mulighederne og kender konventionerne

4. Brugen af de sociale medier har skabt en kultur, hvori der findes et naturligt behov og ønske om instant messageing. Med udbredelsen af Twitter og Facebook er logikken på plads: Ord som “status opdatering”, “What are you doing right know?” og “real-time” hænger uløseligt sammen.

Som sidste punkt antyder, spiller kulturen omkring de sociale medier og on-the-go, efter min mening, en afgørende rolle. Og hvor første bølge af applikationer og sociale utilities gjorde det muligt at sende ex Tweets via en appliaktion (før og nu også via SMS) fra mobilen, kombinerede anden bølge dette med brugerens geografiske position. Vi er efter min bedste overbevisning et sted i den tredje bølge, hvor ovenstående social location sharing kombineres med direkte word-of-mouth i form af anmeldelser/tips og et ekstra deltagende incentive-niveau i form af fx et spil/konkurrence-element.

Og så de to eksempler

To applikationer som er indbegrebet af tredje bølge er Foursquare og Gowalla. (som jeg selv nyder godt af). Og ingen grund til her at koble flere ord på disse to sociale netværk. Via nedenstående links kan du blive meget klogere (jf. naturligvis også evt. de officielle sites). Og så er det jo som bekendt bedst at prøve dem selv.

1. Foursquare

2. Gowalla

Når vi holder foredrag om tilgangen til de sociale medier i et marketingsperspektiv, runder vi af med et kig i krystalkuglen: Hvilke tendenser ser vi i DK? Hvad kommer der mere af? Og lur mig om disse to applikationer ikke er med næste gang, vi skal på turné, som repræsentanter for denne tendens. Jeg vil i øvrigt poste brugs-eksempler her på bloggen. For der findes allerede gode cases på den kommercielle brug af både Foursquare og Gowalla.

Mulighederne er mange – så brug dem.

[Via http://advertisingparadigm.wordpress.com]

Facebook to know your location

2010-03-10T14:38:00.000+02:00

Location services will soon be implemented to probably the most popular social network today, Facebook. Or, in other words, you will be able to post your current location online when changing your status. This feature should become available to its users during the next few months.

Though a neat little feature, most profiting from it will be the users using their cellphone (or iPad?) to access Facebook. Others can probably do the same just typing the city name in their laptop.

[Via http://reviewedtutorials.wordpress.com]

Norman Rockwell-Perfect For His Time

2010-03-08T06:19:00.000+02:00

Norman Rockwell Illustration on Gossip

Norman Rockwell…what can I say? He was such a wonderful illustrator. The way he illustrated life was genuine. A whole story could be told in a single illustration without one word being written. All you had to do was really look at the picture, and you could somehow relate to what he was trying to tell you through his art. He was perfect for his time.

I often wonder what he would be illustrating if he were still here and illustrating daily living today! It would definitely not be the same!

Like the illustration he did of the girl getting ready for her prom. Instead of a girl looking innocently in a mirror,with her dress in hand, I picture a girl running off to a tanning salon, a nail salon, possibly sitting in a limo with friends.etc. How would he illustrate that today?

Okay, cell phones! I could picture him illustrating someone walking with a cell phone…better than that…shopping while talking on the cell phone! Yes, can’t you picture this illustration-a person standing in a checkout line at the store, maybe the 12 items or less line, and he’s got the counter cluttered with grocery items (more than 12 obviously)and he’s holding up the line, completely oblivious to the fact of all the disgusted looks on peoples faces in the background! Yes! I’ve even experienced that one!

How about illustrating a woman putting on makeup while driving to work, I can definitely see that one. Hey, I have seen that one…in person!

Or instead of an illustration of a child sitting there quietly reading his book, he’s now being illustrated at the kitchen table or on his bed on his laptop! How about a group of friends sitting around playing a war game on their huge, flat screen tv… all their eyes intent on the screen, snacks all around and arms flying every which way.

I can picture an illustration of guys watching the super bowl on television with fists and angry faces up to the tv! Oh yes, with snacks and beer everywhere!

It would definitely be a different world to illustrate today! I’m just glad Norman Rockwell was here for the time he was meant to be here, even though his illustrations will continue to be popular in any time period. It’s nice to just thumb through his illustrations and see a less stressed and down- to- earth America and I’d like to remember his illustrations this way.

Now, can you picture what he would have done with this “gossip” illustration I posted here, if he were to illustrate something like this today? I shudder at the thought…mmmm…cell phones, facebook, blue tooth…

I prefer not to think about it!

Thank you, Norman. We love you and I think we would all agree you were perfect for your time!

[Via http://cherylmcnulty.wordpress.com]

I Keep Promises

2010-03-08T06:18:00.000+02:00

I said I would, and I did. But it wasn’t easy, something about Windows Movie Maker just didn’t like the aspect ratio of my clips and made my Zune look super skinny. I don’t want anorexic Zune HD.

I think the video is pretty good for a little chopped and trimmed production. It features two made-up Facebook peoples for privacy reasons, and their dialogue is pretty funny. At least I think so, cause I was the one who wrote it. The video basically goes through everything you can find in the Facebook app, which is not as much as the one on the iPod/iPhone, but it’s only version 1.0. More will come, mark my words.

This video also marks the launch of Three My Thought’s YouTube channel, which can be found here. I promise I will make it look nicer.

[Via http://threemythoughts.wordpress.com]

13 Reasons Social Media works

2010-03-05T06:36:00.000+02:00

Good morning, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

13 reasons social media works is responding my the post 13 excuses for social media not working, I can’t really give you 13 excuses and let you loose on the world, so here are the responses with facts and figures to back it up, no more excuses people!

1) No Time… All it takes is an hour a day, as this article shows you how… 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening

2) Facebook fan pages don’t work for my industry. Facebook pages are used by a huge number of different industries out there (I don’t want to say all, as I haven’t checked to be honest!). There are case studies on Movie releases, Police stations, Charities, cafes, non-profits, restaurants, pizza places, small businesses, it’s not just products, but services as well. As a service you can promote special offers, position your business as an expert and use your fans as a mini focus group.

3) It’s a fad. Nope, NO. Facebook has been around since 2004, MySpace since 2003 and 6/7 years on they are still growing, as well as other social networks. The advertising spend on TV and print is decreasing and companies are moving to online. Groundswell blogs that social networks will be like ‘air’ in five years time. It’s not going anywhere.

4) No one I know uses it. This is hard to believe, 400 million people on Facebook globally and growing, LinkedIn has 60 million professionals on it. People are using it in their personal life, and they ar using it to talk to companies. Go and ask your clients/customers, I bet more than you think are using it.

5) My friend tried it and it didn’t work for their business. Social media is not a shoe you try on and everyone loves it, you have to build it to suit your audience. You need to look at your audience, how old they are, what they are interested in and use this info to engage them in your social media. It is not a one size fits all approach, look at what has worked for similar businesses in your industry.

6) People where I live don’t use it. Check out this link, it will show all the countries globally where people are using Facebook, and that is just one social network. Unless you are living on the Moon it’s very very very unlikely that no one is using social media. I have just checked and astronauts have been using Twitter on their space trips since 2007! If you are interested here is their Facebook page.

7) I have no idea what to do. This is a lazy excuse. There is so much information on the internet you could read about it for weeks and still not get through it all. Good starting points are looking at the Mashable website (also available as an iPhone app) and do a search for what you want, you can also find events on here. Check out the Social Rabbit Facebook page, as there are resources on there. I could talk about this for hours, but a good place to start is to ask someone, even Rabbit’s are friendly!

I will take too long to learn. Easy answer – outsource it! Obviously Social Rabbit can help, but there are also lots of people out there that specialise in social media. Just talk to them about what they have achieved for previous clients, and maybe even chat to past clients before you jump in.

9) A Facebook page does not mean sales increase. True, if all you do is create a page and wait for people to come along, because I can tell you right now that ain’t going to happen. One page I have just started to work on – BodyBolster, has had 18 fans since June 2009, they hired Social Rabbit this week, and overnight we doubled their fans to 36. The secret to this is actually talking about the page and updating content!

10) Only geeks use Twitter. OK, harsh I know, but it depends on your definition of geek, is Ashton Kutcher a geek (he has the largest number of followers on Twitter with 4.6 million),or what about Oprah with 3.2 million followers. Or Dell computers making $3 million from sales directly related to Twitter, or Best Buy electronics store in the USA using it for customer service. I would say Twitter users are clever enough to know where their audience are and to engage with them.

11) People in my industry are not computer literate. It’ all about education, social media is like email was when it first started, it took while for everyone to get it but now people can’t imagine a world without it.

12) Who’s interested in us? The world is changing, people want to deal with people, not faceless companies. People like the reassurance that comes with knowing the people in the company – they want to connect with them.

13) There’s no point changing how we communicate. That’s fine, but your audience are moving into social media, so if you don’t look at it for your business you are going to miss the boat. Think about how frustrating it is when a company you deal with doesn’t use a certain technology that would save you time, they probably said it’s just a fad, no point in changing, so what would you do? Move to another company that offers what you want – You don’t want that to happen to you.

Hopefully this has helped you understand why social media is such a ‘hot potato’ at the moment. I would love to hear your thoughts, just click on the add a comment link below.

[Via http://larasolomon.wordpress.com]

the last day

2010-03-05T06:33:00.000+02:00

okay it’s over and done.

♦

well i did say what i had in mind since ysterday.

but then it felt completely awkward.

my face felt so hot (i think i was blushing).

♦

and the general manager said nice things about me in his speech.

dier ckp aku gigih, hardworking, rajin bertanya bila tak tahu, and so on..

the truth is, when was i ever like that?

and how does he even know?

it’s not like he really is around when i was doing the real bad-ass work like a manly girl. (ha ha).

he wasn’t even on site when i was.

he wasn’t there when i was the only girl in the processing plant.

he wasn’t there when i was the only girl in the safety meeting.

♦

so now that i’m finally on my last day of my 12 week/3months industrial attachment, i feel just a tad bit relieved. but a lot more terrified.

because the life AFTER is the one that’s gonna be even more mind-bogglingly challenging.

♦

if life is a journey

then how long does it take to arrive

(and i wonder if that was ever a valid question).

♦

i seem to be skipping lunch because i’m still full frm breakfast.

i can’t go crazy like ysterday and eat again (even whn i’m not hungry) because i’ll feel so full it’d bug me the whole day.

♦

yesterday’s food-binging was awful.

and this morning was horrible.

my last day of working and i was so damn late it was nerve-wrecking.

♦

i’ll be leaving with a co-worker today because i need to go for a housetour at her house. haha.

because i’m supposed to babysit her kid when she goes away for 16 days in about 2 weeks’ time.

♦

i can hear people laughing frm the pantry frm here at my table .

i’d love to go and join them while grabbing a bite, but i’m just not really in the mood for some mellow farewell conversation.. AGAIN.

because i’d feel like i don’t know what to say and end up sugar-coating EVERYTHING.

like i’m jst talking for the sake of keeping up appearances. and i hate that. i’d rather not speak.

♦

but i did anyway.

and there goes nothing.

♦

and the “add me in facebook” statement pops up AGAIN – frm the same person.

and of course, same answer: “i don’t facebook”.

so he tells me to add him in ym.

well

i don’t want to.

because i don’t like nice guys who are soo nice to evryone (even when that everyone isn’t the ONE that carries his ring on her finger).

♦

i think that the roots of fidelity aren’t always so secure when there are possibilities of alternative outlets such as so-called HARMLESS friendship.

♦

when it comes to that i don’t think anything is HARMLESS.

and so i guess this is where i draw the lines.

♦

if you’re unavailable don’t make yourself so seemingly available.

just stick to your unavailability and stop acting that you’re not. unavailable.

don’t give people the wrong ideas and complicate the tangled web of misconceptions.

because you’re not allowed to get away with it, scott-free.

nothing is free.

please pay up with whatever dignity you have left.

[Via http://crystalights.wordpress.com]

Ruby on Rails plugin for Facebook style selector

2010-03-03T06:34:00.000+02:00

Awesome Selector (Ruby on Rails plugin)

For a recent project we needed to show list of users with some basic information and with multiple select options, just like facebook friends selector for selecting friends, groups, projects etc…

This is generally a requirement in most of the social networking projects, with minor changes here and there.

So I decided to build a plug-in with some easy configuration options, which should work independent of the type of object to be shown in the list.

It’s a nice FB like user interface to select multiple elements. We can configure it easily by some parameters as described below.

The features I’d like to highlight are:

FB like user interface.
Word filter.
Templates.
Auto complete.
Effortless integration and easy to customize.

For more information on setup and download click here

You just need to call the helper with required parameters, on the page where you want the list to be displayed <%= awesome_selector :objects => @users, :field_names => ["name","email"], :form_post_url => users_path, :template => "template_1", :auto_complete_field_name => "name", :image_url => "avatar_photo_url(:thumb)", :max_selection_limit => [5, 'Sorry, you can not select more users.'] %>

Currently there are two templates available ‘template_1′ and ‘template_2′. An example of the generated list is as follows:

template_1 template_2

After submitting the form, selected object ids are available as params[:selected_element_ids] separated by comma.

Thanks to the following for their kind contribution to the JS libraries used in this plugin.

Autocomplete by Tomas Kirda
jquery-filter-plugin by Kent Safranski

[Via http://sappsdreams.wordpress.com]

My mom has this way of making me think about things.

2010-03-03T06:20:00.000+02:00

Like any college student would, I felt my heart drop a little bit when I got the notification on my iPhone: my mom had just added me as a friend on Facebook. Fortunately, I’m not stupid enough to advertise every minute detail of my life for the consumption of the Internet, so it wasn’t a matter of “oh no, mom’s going to see pictures of me from that school girl-themed frat party in freshmen year.” It was more of a, “what social life do my parents actually have that they’d need to interact on a social-networking site?” Of course, I couldn’t deny the friendship of my own mother, so I waited a couple hours and eventually confirmed the request.

I actually surprised myself with how not-embarrassing it was to see my mom in a domain that I’d typically reserved for college kids seeking a distraction. She’s always been a pretty cool mom, in her own right. I smiled looking at her pictures — shots of my dad, brother and dog (and of course, a few less-than-glamorous ones of me) — memories I haven’t visited in the bustle of my busy collegiate life.

From: http://myparentsjoinedfacebook.com/

I’ve never been one to truly accept the idea of the generation gap, until today. In my nightly phone call to my parents, my mom made a point that piqued my interest. “You go on Facebook and talk to all these people you just met. When I go on there, I’m coming across all these people from the past.” No huge breakthrough, I suppose. I guess it’s just something I’d never thought about. Of course, my stupid reporter instincts were like “Ma, you need to write a column about that or something.” I just find it so interesting to think about the way social media affects the 20-somethings compared to our 50-something parents. She told me that she’d found a few of my grandma’s cousins’ children. No one has heard from them in years. Talk about shrinking the size of the world through the Internet. I might take back those horrible things I said about that stupid series of tubes in my last post. Even I’ll admit, that’s pretty cool how connected we can be to each other (until it gets creepy, of course).

Oh, and of course, a few hours later, I get the friend request from my dad. My brother refuses to add him, but how could I say no? These people changed my diapers and helped me through every single life crisis of the last 22 years. I couldn’t possibly reject that.

So here’s to the people who love us the most, regardless of what our “Jobs/Education” and “Relationship Status” sections say.

[Via http://jencalantone.wordpress.com]

Become a Fan of MODA on Facebook!

2010-03-01T14:44:00.000+02:00

Are you on Facebook? Do you love brand new luxury retail and residential buildings? Become a fan of MODA on Facebook! With approximately 45,000 square feet of retail space and 346 apartments, MODA sits in the heart of Jamaica, Queens at 89-14 Parsons Boulevard. The property has easy access to several transportation options, a 500-space underground parking garage, and is neighbored by national and international retailers like The Home Depot, Old Navy, and Walgreens.

King Polo/Associated Supermarkets has already signed onto the project as an anchor of the building, but there is still room for your restaurant, daycare center, nail salon, or other retail use! Hurry and call 212-213-6480 while there’s still space available. In the mean time, log onto your Facebook page and become a fan of this amazing new development.

-Caitlin

[Via http://besenretail.wordpress.com]

Facebook Statistics Will WOW You

2010-03-01T14:37:00.000+02:00

Ever wonder how many people are on Facebook?

Facebook does a great job of posting their Stats.

Here’s their current stats:

Facebook Statistics

Company Figures

More than 400 million active users
50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
More than 35 million users update their status each day
More than 60 million status updates posted each day
More than 3 billion photos uploaded to the site each month
More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week
More than 3.5 million events created each month
More than 3 million active Pages on Facebook
More than 1.5 million local businesses have active Pages on Facebook
More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day
Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans

Average User Figures

Average user has 130 friends on the site
Average user sends 8 friend requests per month
Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook
Average user clicks the Like button on 9 pieces of content each month
Average user writes 25 comments on Facebook content each month
Average user becomes a fan of 4 Pages each month
Average user is invited to 3 events per month
Average user is a member of 13 groups

International Growth

More than 70 translations available on the site
About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States
Over 300,000 users helped translate the site through the translations application

Platform

More than one million developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries
Every month, more than 70% of Facebook users engage with Platform applications
More than 500,000 active applications currently on Facebook Platform
More than 250 applications have more than one million monthly active users
More than 80,000 websites have implemented Facebook Connect since its general availability in December 2008
More than 60 million Facebook users engage with Facebook Connect on external websites every month
Two-thirds of comScore’s U.S. Top 100 websites and half of comScore’s Global Top 100 websites have implemented Facebook Connect

Mobile

There are more than 100 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice more active on Facebook than non-mobile users.
There are more than 200 mobile operators in 60 countries working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products

[Via http://marketingwatchwithkimberly.com]

ACT 2 – Scene Observations – Setting

2010-02-26T06:56:00.000+02:00

Where:

-Entirety of this act takes place within Macbeth’s castle

-Scenes are inside the castle, and out, it seems the majority of the actions occurs inside the castle, while Banquo and Fleance’s parley takes place within the courtyard.

- As these scenes occur within in the castle, the setting can be described as being man-made.

-From the description, the space doesn’t seem extremely cluttered or sparse, but several items are mentioned specifically, ‘the curtained sleep’ This makes the area seem well furnished.

-There is much praise given onto the castle in the beginning of the act, especially from Duncan and Banquo.

Time:

-The defining scene of this act (the murder of Duncan) occurs during the night

-Banquo states ‘There’s husbandry in heaven; their candles are all out” referring to the stars. This is also significant as the stars also represent fate.

- The night is made to seem dark and foreboding, this is emphasized by Fleance stating “The moon is down”

Context:

-These scenes occur after act one. This is after Macbeth has learned of his advancement and after he has been convinced by Lady Macbeth to carry out the murder against Duncan.

-The setting doesn’t change from the scene immediately before, except night has fallen on the castle

Act Analysis:

-The majority of the elements of the scene are dark and foreboding. Macbeth accentuates this by referencing Tarquin, amongst other images to create a dark and evil tone.

-In terms of staging this scene, the lighting would be definitely toned down, angles could be used in lighting to create dramatic shadows, especially in Macbeth to communicate to viewers evil resolve within him.

- The castle is presented as dark; therefore, the colors used would be cool colors, such as greys and blues, and even black

-The tragic aspect of this play comes out in this act, as Macbeth murders Duncan. The murder of a character presents the human suffering, which characterizes tragedy.

[Via http://roycewei.wordpress.com]

Why facebook why?

2010-02-26T06:41:00.000+02:00

Hey Awesometownies,

It’s been a while since my last post, but I really haven’t had a good idea for something to blog about. This week I think I will vent my frustrations and pet peeves about the wonderful world of the social networking sensation that is facebook. I think it’s safe to assume that everyone who reads our blog has a facebook account, and if they don’t this blog will be pointless to them. So if that’s you, you should stop reading this and spend a minute out of your life and get caught up with the rest of America.

Since I’ve had facebook I’ve watched it blossom from a small website of college kids into the face of a new generation. It has taken over myspace and is now the king of the social networking world. Since the creation of it we have seen many new changes and upgrades or downgrades to what it is now, but no matter how many times they change the format or add new features, some d-bags will always find a way to keep it down. I will share some of my findings that make me cringe and sometimes wonder about what the future has in store.

1. I can’t stand people who have a stupid nickname where their middle name would be. You ether have a middle name or you don’t it’s that simple. I mean how many kids out there can have the middle name “shots” or “noonecallsmethisbutiwishtheywould.” I wish there was a lie detector for things like this so you would start seeing more realistic nicknames like, John “I’m a d-bag” Smith or Jane “Slut” Doe. If you are reading this and you have a stupid nickname as your middle name you should probably change it or do the rest of the world a favor and kill yourself, if your luck your nickname might make it on to your tombstone.

2. This isn’t so much facebook as it is technology in general, but I think that kids really do not know how to spell anymore. Granted I make mistakes here and there, but kids now days have something I didn’t have when I was growing up…spell check. I was lucky enough to be in the generation right before the bell curve took a turn for the worse. Internet chat and cell phones didn’t become popular until I knew basic grammar function, and proper spelling. Kids now have grown up with a language of their own, which involves laziness and slurring of speech. Example; wassup dawg u c that girl 2day she was so hawt I bet she wuld prly be my gurlfren if I axd her. Aight homie ill chck u l8r. Now I’m not sure when ignorance actually started but I am sure that it is getting out of hand. I think the only solution to this, is to have everyone take a spelling and grammar test before they are allowed to get a cell phone or use the internet. F u think u are prly part of the problem u shuld do the rest of the wrld a fvor and kil urself.

3. People using their facebook status as a way to vent. I can’t stand this at all, some people always have negative things to say on their statuses. Blah blah blah my day is going bad, blah blah blah this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. Well you will get no sympathy from me, if you want to complain get a blog or write it in your journal don’t waste your facebook status on something looking for a self esteem booster. You are not the only one that has bad days, everyone does but you can either share it with the rest of the world and feel sorry for yourself or you can talk about it with one of your friends, that’s why you have them. I would tellyou o kill yourself but you might actually do it so save it for a rainy day, and start putting thing up that make you happy.

4. The news feed and the stupid shit facebook has decided to put on it. I really don’t about how people’s farms are doing or if their mafia had new members join. I don’t even play those games what makes you think that I would be so interested to see how other people are doing in them. That would be like me having a ticker on my computer or TV that shows the scores to all the cricket matches taking place, it means absolutely nothing to me, it serves me no purpose. Facebook news feed guys, go kill yourselves maybe someone will make a cool app about you.

5. Facebook chat. You have spent so many times changing the layout of the website to make it more user friendly. You don’t even tell us the layout is changing you just lay it on us and let us figure it out. Even though you must get so much negative feed back every time you do this. Now this doesn’t bother me that much but I always see a lot of people complain. Lets be honest, we grew up in the age of technology, if you can’t figure out how to operate a new lay out to facebook you should probably kill yourself. The thing that I hate about all these changes is that facebook has a team of people to brainstorm on how they can make things easier and they spend all their time on that when they need to fix a simple glitch in the program which is facebook chat. This thing is a crap shoot, you never know what’s going to happen. You’ll be talking to someone and the automatically disconnected, am I still on dial up? Did some one call the house and kick me off the internet? Why is it that AIM and ICQ could do this and they are far older than you facebook. Facebook chat members you should probably do the world a favor an go kil

Sorry I got cut off in that last sentence. These are just a couple of things that bother me about facebook, do you have anything that bothers you, well lets here about it. There is a lot more stuff out there that I didn’t mention, but I thought 5 would be more than enough to read about me bitching.

Until next time,

Timbo

[Via http://theawesometown.com]

I should title this post, "Why I hate the Internet."

2010-02-24T06:49:00.000+02:00

But what did the Internet ever do to me? Nothing horrible, truthfully. But maybe that’s the problem. Maybe the Internet is so common in everyday life that I don’t even notice its absolutely devastating effects. I should really title this entire blog “Why I am a huge hypocrite: Irony, Irony, Irony.” But then my search engine optimization would probably be terrible. Because I’m told I’m supposed to care about these things. Ugh!

I have a few short reasons, aside from the fact that this stupid series of tubes has gone ahead and ruined any hope I ever had of working in print journalist.

One of these reasons occurred to me today while I was sitting in my 5:30 class. We had a pretty serious publishing mogul and seasoned politician come to our class. I’m pretty sure my professor had to pull a lot of strings to get him there. So, I’m sitting in the back of the room, taking pretty good notes and listening to this guy talk to a room filled with college seniors. I take a couple seconds to look around at my peers, and of course, nearly everyone had their laptops open to Facebook. Now, I’m as addicted to mindless social networking as most other people my age, but come on, people. This guy was actually interesting. Why anyone would feel the need to creep on other people’s profiles at that given moment is so far beyond me.

Another thing that really gets me about them Inter-webs is how easily people with no social skills can get through life without having any incentive to improve that. My roommate asked me this afternoon if I’d ever heard of this Web site called “Chat Roulette.” It’s exactly what it sounds like. Think, modern speed dating. Or fleeting interactions with strange-looking people from across the world. While cool in its concept, there is no reason to let most of these people within 100 yards of a school. And yet we probably do. Every day.

My roommate met me with a problem yesterday. Some guy she’d known, ugh, “IRL,” who she’d recently been linking to in her blog and communicating (sort of) via Twitter, recently asked her on what sounded like a date over a Twitter message. We both pondered whether or not one could successfully score a date in 140 characters. My vote is: a resounding no.

Sure, I take full advantage of the Internet. I wouldn’t have even considered blogging if the world/my university didn’t beat me over the head with the importance of these “tubes.” But I think the trouble with “kids these days” is that we’re forced to put ourselves in the public eye through all this social networking blah blah blah. So many of my journalist-in-training friends measure their success based on how many pages come up when they Google their names. Certain publications pride themselves in their ability to tweet out breaking news and then never follow-up on it. And sure, there is a need for those things in this fast-moving world. But I can’t say I’ve ever been moved by a tweet or a twit-pic. At least not the way a well-written, thorough article has. I worry that someday, I’m going to be stuck in a world that puts priority on speed over accuracy and brevity over thoroughness.

But for now, I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Oh, and check my Facebook page. And tweet out this (poorly-written, not even a little bit thorough) post.

[Via http://jencalantone.wordpress.com]

Case 2: Google's Soul For Sale

2010-02-24T06:24:00.000+02:00

During the 1990s, Microsoft was the evil corporation of computing, trying to tie together a litany of shabby software products including Internet Explorer, thus making it impossible for any other companies to move in to the industry. However, in the last 10 years, Apple and Google have made serious strides gaining not just market share, but mind share as well. Apple with computing and hardware, Google with software programs. And in the last 10 years, these companies have taken on the image of fighting the big guy, David v. Goliath, Rudy just trying to make a tackle (more Google, Apple really already had this brand image). But with the release of Google Buzz, some people (I’m not really sure how many) are starting to this that Google is the big bad wolf that needs to be escaped from. But in reality, is it true?

I recently found on Gizmodo a step-by-step manual on how to take your life out of the hands of Google. Let me tell you, after reading through it, it would not be easy for me to rid myself of all of my Google ties. Not only do I use Gmail, but I use Wave, Google search, Chrome, Docs, Chat, and on occasion, Google Reader. That list is not exclusive, I will still actively search out any new product that Google releases. But the real question is, do I want to take away all of my services from Google? One of the biggest issues that consumers are dealing with right now is the privacy issue.

Google specializes in targeting advertising. By tracking your searches, just like Facebook tracks your posted information, Google can better feed you ads that relate closer to you.

The ad in the picture above is for ESPN, which not only do I have bookmarked, but I also sports in many of my e-mails. While this would bother a lot of people, thinking that it hits a little too close to home, I am not one of those people. I know the risks of having information online, and I’m of a firm belief that if I don’t want someone to know something about me, I will not post it or discuss it online.

The most backlash with Google Buzz is coming from the automatic tracking that Google added so you have a group of friends to start with, instead of having to search them all down. However, they created this list from people you contact with frequently in your contacts, which is a list that could include bosses, lawyers, ex-significant others and many other that you do not want being able to see any of your updates.

But Google Buzz cannot be the only cause of the public backlash against Google, can it? Google gave us Gmail, which allowed us to escape from the amateurish e-mail clients of Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL. Google gave us Docs, the first well publicized, well constructed online document creation program. But most of all, they gave us Google searches. Think back to the days before Google search. What was available? Ask Jeeves? Yahoo? Google redefined the search industry and have became the market leader because it is well deserved.

These search engines might be a thing of the past, however, Microsoft has thrown their gauntlets into the search engine industry with the ambitious release of Bing. Bing is not just another search engine, it is a redefinition on the common search, and gives the user a very different experience than does Google.

While Google will give you all web-pages, images, news articles and other such information having to do with any specific search, Bing goes a different route. They will still provide you with the same information, however, they will summarize basic information and display it for the user on the front page. Sort of like a Wiki Junior.

So while there are modern options from switching from Google platforms, the question is still there. Why do it? I believe that it all comes down to how much information are you willing to let one company not only know about you, but control. I know that by using as many Google products as I do, they could paint a very realistic picture of who I am. Every time you sign up for a company’s website you submit information. And with Google products, most of the time it’s not just submitting entry information, but the sending and receiving of messages with their products by E-mails, searches, documents, etc.

Until the release of Google Buzz, Google had a near spotless brand image and no signs of an evil corporation. But by looking in the news lately, that’s have to have changed, right? I mean, start angering your customers and your going to get a lot of negative PR. But what recourse is the right recourse? In the comments section of the article I discussed earlier, on how to delete Google from your life, a few consumers are discussing what they think on the subject.

“Why would I ditch a great service?” Never been more simple to some I guess. Until Google starts to seriously inconvenience my life, I will continue to use Google products. If I start to worry about online privacy more than I currently do, I think Facebook with be my first stop. Google may sell certain information to create targeted ads, but Facebook has more information publicly listed than I will ever disclose on any of my Google accounts. But I still easily found this online, but I just think this is pretty funny. Enjoy.

[Via http://gwillonthenet.wordpress.com]

Lent

2010-02-22T06:47:00.000+02:00

A recent facebook post I made stirred up–well, I will say comments, not so much “controversy.” I was asking why so many of my friends who were not Roman Catholic celebrated Lent. I got lots of responses. Some people who were not religious were using it as a time to try to do something different. I’m assuming they chose Lent mainly because it is a conveniently defined period of time. Some felt that they did not think enough about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us in their day-to-day life and felt that giving something up would help them to remember that. Some people were doing something rather than giving something up; in fact one person was doing something that I believe is based on a misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:3-16. I am not participating in Lent. I don’t think it’s wrong, necessarily, I just don’t think it is something I want to do, and here are some reasons why:

1. I don’t feel like I need to give anything up now any more than usual. A few weeks ago I set a goal of trying to drink more water than soda everyday. I haven’t been achieving that goal everyday, but I’m keeping track. I don’t want to give something up because I feel like I can enjoy a soda to the glory of God, just as I can enjoy any of the many things with which He has blessed me.

2. I don’t “need” to give something up to remember what Jesus did for me. Maybe I don’t think about His sacrifice every second of the day or even every day but it isn’t something I will forget easily, at least not now. I think that giving something up for me would just feel like a chore and my religion is not a chore.

3. I don’t like the idea of Lent being “self-improvement.” I can’t help myself. Only God can help to effect any kind of real change in me.

Today at church the bulletin had a passage that addressed Lent. I’m going to quote a little bit of it (if you wrote this and want credit let me know–there was no author or anything it’s just from a church bulletin):

“It is very important to remember that whatever you do during Lent, it must not be construed as a spiritual act that achieves any status or favor with God. Rituals and habits are meant to educate, discipline, and sensitize. They should never be meant to impress or give spiritual self-satisfaction. Hyper-devotion and super spirituality often lead to an exaltation of the self.”

I feel like a lot of people give up things that will help them. I don’t think that’s what Lent is for and I would rather enjoy what the Lord has given me every day and remember His suffering throughout the entire year, not just 40 days.

[Via http://reactionaryhousewife.wordpress.com]

On to Week 2

2010-02-22T06:45:00.000+02:00

Well the weekend is now over and on to the next week of no Facebook. It is actually getting quite easy, if I may say. I’m not really suffering too much, and I guess it helps that nearly all my friends are filling me in anyway on what I missing out on. I got a little nervous when my friends told me I was tagged in a couple pictures from Friday night. Found out they’re all good. As my good friend Matt Wachtel said earlier to me, “Is there ever such a thing as a bad picture if you’re in it?” It’s so true.

Anyways, since it was Sunday, and “technically” Sundays do not count, I thought it would be funny to sign on to Facebook to just see the status of my account. No, I did not look at my wall, look at anyone else’s status, harvest my crops, compare my friends, admire how Chad Michael Murray was my Celebrity Doppelganger (no joke), or do any Friends Exposed, but I did just take note of everything. Current Tally: 63 notifications, 4 friend requests, 8 inbox messages, 12 other requests, and 1 poke (thanks, Mike Cattermole). It’s been only 5 days. Rumor has it that Facebook stops keeping track at 99 notifications. At this pace, I guess we’ll find out by Thursday night…

[Via http://40daysnofacebook.com]

Facebook to run on Coal!?

2010-02-19T06:56:00.000+02:00

In case you haven’t heard, Facebook recently announced the development of its first data center in Princeville, Oregon, and instead of buying electricity from a clean source within the state, they’re going to mostly import coal electricity from Idaho. Why?

“With the price of hydropower increasing in the Northwest, Facebook opted to bet on the incremental price increases associated with coal rather than face tier-two pricing from BPA.

Brian Oley, a data center site selection expert at the real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle, said it’s no secret that the Northwest’s hydropower is getting tapped out. Oley expects that when tier-two pricing kicks in, prices will increase from two cents per kWh to six or seven cents.”

As Treehugger notes, data centers such as the one Facebook is building are big energy hogs

“Data center power use of the last decade is astounding. In 2000, data centers comprised 0.8 percent of total US electrical consumption, but just 5 years later, data centers’ power consumption grew to 1.4 percent of the total energy use in the country, according to the Energy Information Administration.”

What’s interesting here is how Facebook is clearly aware that they’re making an unpopular decision. They touted the energy efficiency measures taken to minimize the environmental impact of the data center, and posted an official defense of their decision on Treehugger by touting the energy efficiency measures again. A big

They don’t seem to be addressing the head on issue of what KIND of power they’re using. Efficiency is good, coal is terrible on emissions of every kind which damage human health at every stage of the life-cycle and causes climate change. An energy efficient coal-powered building does NOT make for a green building. Sorry Facebook.

But I think they know that too. I’m hearing from multiple users they’ve started censoring Facebook groups which include the words “Facebook and coal”. This was the most recent comment on TreeHugger…

“Facebook has, without warning, deleted the FB-group “Tell Facebook to use clean energy in its data center.” The group existed for merely two days, was very popular and swiftly growing. At the moment of its deletion the group had about 700 members and there were over 3000 invitations to join the group, send out by its members, which were not yet responded upon. The number of group memberships was rising exponential. Also at the moment of deletion the groups creator was in the progress to join forces with a major environmental movement to mobilize the public and to let them show their dismay by becoming member of the group. Which would have boosted membership even more.

We regret the undemocratic tactics which Facebook has applied in this matter.”

Also, the Facebook group “Get Facebook Off Coal” had to use zeros in place of their o’s in order to create their group. They’re clearly afraid of this one getting around because they know what they’re doing as wrong. If you have a Facebook account, please join the group linked above, and sign this petition.

Lets get Facebook off coal.

Cross-posted from The Dernogalizer

[Via http://itsgettinghotinhere.org]

Twesting Cwonnections

2010-02-19T06:52:00.000+02:00

Yeah, so I just introduced myself to twitter (welcome to the 21st century dumbass!) and I find myself reading up on how to connect each and every account that I have to each other (or to twitter, mostly). Facebook to Twitter, WordPress to Twitter, WordPress to Yahoo, WordPress to Facebook…. Luckily, with WordPress, I just have to tick the box on links. I really don’t want to sound like an advertisement for wordpress, but connecting Facebook to twitter is such a pain in the *ss.

Luckily, I didn’t have to subject myself in reading how to create an RSS feed for my Facebook status. I found this blog where you don’t have to create a new facebook account or create your own RSS feed. Then, there’s twitterfeed! God bless the makers of those apps/sites. Big BOO! on facebook disabling RSS on our own status’.

Yeah, and I just made this post to see how all the connections that I made goes, hehe. So if you’re reading this, congratulations! You know how to read!

[Via http://olyabut.wordpress.com]

How to become a Facebook Star: 10 Tips

2010-02-17T06:46:00.000+02:00

The way Facebook is growing with millions of users joining it without a break, I am concerned that soon there will be only two mankind species – some who use Facebook and others who don’t. But many users still need proper handholding to use and become popular on the world’s biggest social hangout on the Net. How? Here are the 10 Tips

By Rakesh Raman

[Via http://mytechbox.wordpress.com]

Facebook Is the Web’s Ultimate Timesink [STATS]

2010-02-17T06:43:00.000+02:00

Each American Facebook user spent an average of 421 minutes on Facebook per month

via Facebook Is the Web’s Ultimate Timesink [STATS].

Exactly why everyone is so ready to kick Facebook to the curb, because they really fear what will happen if nothing can check its growth. Think more about how many ways Facebook could have completely fallen down

Change UI – everybody howls let’s go back
Allow advertisers to use your profile pic in advertisements to your friends – oops let’s back out of that one
Change privacy settings – Zuckerberg pens letter to the masses saying Facebook cherishes privacy (while really just trying to push the envelope of acceptable sharing)
Change UI – everybody is just tired of complaining

In all that time MySpace, Orkut (who?), and Twitter have yet to make any significant decrease in the growth of Facebook. Games like Farmville help to feed the addiction to Facebook. Allowing more and more interoperability like Vivox for voice chat (potential competitor to Skype?) and opening IM to other 3rd party clients like AIM.

Facebook looks poised to keep their growth going.

[Via http://a1by.wordpress.com]

My Kind Of Guy

2010-02-15T06:54:00.000+02:00

You started flirting with me today. Dont denie it im not that stupid. We actaully talked, about when we were going out, about how you cheated on me… we were whispering in class. Talking about everything, all the walls were down, no secrets, If i went out with you again… thats what it would be like.

Your My Awesome Waterpolo Dummy

[Via http://see1saw2in3an4igloo.wordpress.com]

Are we being social right now?

2010-02-15T06:53:00.000+02:00

Sooooo……What do you think is the culmination of this social media frenzy?

ICQ, Yahoo chat rooms, MSN Messenger, Hi-Five, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Google Buzz….etc….

Social interactions with people you would never really interact with in the flesh. The virtual self seems to be more appealing – how do we aggregate all of this extraneous information?

Are we trying to communicate that which can not be said?! I wonder. McLuhan believed that eventually media technologies would lead to a ‘post-literate’ world, where the written word and language would be superseded by the visual medium.

Hmm. Well, that’s hardly the case is it?! All of our ’social’ networking is highly contingent upon the written language!! Gah! Literacy is a HUGE aspect of how we now communicate in our ICT (information and communication technology) laden world!

But is literature social? The written word is not entirely a social thing – I mean you are reading this and I have written it and in some way we are sharing the experience – but not in ‘real time’, not with any meaningful fleshy connection (no sexual innuendo intended here). Doesn’t being social inherently include a human connection which is predicated upon a physical human characteristic? (Touch, taste, smell, sound…you get the idea). We are experiencing a social moment together in some sort of suspended time warp where the human aspect has to be ‘guestimated’ – sarcasm and intonation fail miserably over social networks.

Even if we can have updates that are fractions of a minute or second apart (ahem..twitter), it’s not nearly as quickly as you could transmit a message by just talking to me in person. Granted of course that these technologies are leaping great distances in short periods of time, What is the need for people in the same place to have an interface between them? More over – why do I need to know INSTANTANEOUSLY what is going on in the world?! How have our social interactions been hijacked by technologies created by the inherently anti-social? We sit in our own rooms distanced greatly not only by physical geography but by a constant interface through which we must first pass our message. I suppose telephones did the same thing – but then with telephones there was a physical connection still – the human voice.

Oh – and does Blogging count as a social media?! Is a cork based real life bulletin board a social media? So confusing!

Obviously this is just the beginning of a phase or stage of communications technologies – we have yet to plateau. Where are we going – where is this taking us? After you have read this, are we now ‘friends’?! (I’m a pretty great friend who always has chocolate on hand just so you know)

So many questions!!

[Via http://bsingh83.wordpress.com]

I Write. Other Ladies Make Money.

2010-02-12T06:27:00.000+02:00

So here I sit, cozy at home, looking nerdy, and listening to the Olympic brou ha-ha which echos across English Bay. Fireworks, crowds, and what may you.

Meh!

I hate crowds, and for as much as I’m happy that Vancouver’s hosting the Games, I don’t feel it necessary to check-out the scene downtown. I also shall not be tuning-in to the opening ceremonies tomorrow night. Instead, I’ll be having fun out at (former) Riverview Psychiatric Hospital, being an extra on some indie film about zombies. (One of my best friends is the caterer/with craft services for the film.)

I get to be a zombie for several hours

Whoo! Big stretch, hey? I wonder if I ought just roll outta bed, fail to brush my furry teeth, and frighten the shit out of everyone on-set?

Much more fun than sitting at home, watching the opening ceremonies, or being part of the crazy scene, downtown! I can watch that stuff online, later. I’d rather be a zombie, and have fun with my friends Dawn (caterer) and Dana (fellow Mistress of Macabre). I’ll be certain to take some photos & post some to the blog over the weekend.

So … apparently, I wasn’t the only person who’d noticed the distinct similarity between an earlier blog post (and Facebook notes) and that which was published to a local blogger’s website AND in yesterday’s issue of 24 Hours Vancouver.

I was not imagining things, nor am I delusional. The content was awfully close to what I’ve previously written elsewhere.

I hope that this was just a coincidence.

This was NOT the first time I’ve written something, only to stumble upon eerily similar content published in 24 Hours Vancouver, weeks later.

Last January 7th, I wrote and published a note to Facebook entitled You Know You’ve Become Comfortable In A Relationship When … (see hyperlink for actual note, clipped/pasted from Facebook).

It was about crossing the “fart threshold” in new relationships.

You Know You’ve Become Comfortable in a Relationship When … (Note Published to Facebook: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 3:08pm)

… the farting begins.

You know it’s “real”, and you’ve moved beyond the casual dating/early relationship stage when the farts start a’-rippin’! Oh, yes!

Farts happen. Farts are funny (in moderation). Farts are sometimes just too good not to share with a special someone. Nothing defines “intimacy” more than fart-sharing.

However, there seems to be an unspoken, undetermined “honeymoon period” when one wouldn’t dream of blowing the asstastic trombone, and should one let a fart accidentally slip … utter mortification ensues.

As per my status update last night:

“Kate says, ‘Dignity comes in many forms. Such as: laying naked in someone’s bed, post-coitus, in gastrointestinal agony, never letting-on that you’re dying to fart.’ “

So, so true, and most of us have been there! You know it, I know it, and there is no shame in laughing at one’s gastacular moments!

In case you’re wondering: yes, that status update was based on personal experience, and I’ll bet that at one time or another, you too have experienced something similar (especially fellow members of the fairer sex)! Possibly too much information for some to share, but … it’s funny, and ladies will sympathize with the fartastic tale!

Just know that I’d been dating someone for several weeks, and while laying in his bed early one morning, put myself through the AGONY of withholding … something really evil. Put it this way: we’d been drinking a lot of beer the night before, and like the brewmaster who’d perfected whatever we’d been drinking, yours truly had been brewing something special in her gut over-night.

Though the guy laid asleep next to me, I knew that he wouldn’t be for long, should I let-loose under the sheets. And so I laid there, perfectly still, trying not to double-over, but not daring to move an inch, lest the post-beer brew slip-out with violent velocity. There was an adjoining en suite bathroom, but forget the awkwardness of strolling naked across the room: I was more worried that the fart would fly out while trekking across the room, or once having reached the bathroom, the powerful blast would vibrate & ricochet off walls, echoing throughout the room. There’d be no muffling or disguising that one.

Clearly, we hadn’t reached the “I’m comfortable enough to fart in front of you” stage. (we never arrived at that point, breaking-up when he cheated on myself about a week later.)

And so I laid there, painfully … for more than an hour, pretending to be asleep, just waiting for him to get-up & hit the shower. Let’s just say that when I let-loose, the duvet almost rippled, and I think that a robin may have fallen out the tree near the bedroom window.

For all of my agony, dignity & consideration, he was none the wiser, detected nothing, and (soaking wet) jumped back into the freshly farted-in sheets.

Others aren’t as considerate as myself, I might add. Without saying too much, or being overtly graphic, just know that my former fiancé, “Sharty Sweatpant Man”, cut-loose during … up-close & personal moments with myself.

Yup. Horrific. Traumatizing. (and you wonder why I didn’t marry him?!) “Poor Kate!”, indeed.

I reckon that like trimesters of pregnancy, new couples ought to arrive at an official “you can fart in my presence” point of their relationship. You know: say, 3-6 months into the relationship?

Perhaps there should even be an intimate, personal “fart sharing” ceremony of sorts. Copious amounts of cabbage, beans, and beer could be consumed during a romantic, candle-lit dinner for two … some Julio Iglesias, Luther Vandross, Barry White & Peabo Bryson playing in the background … gifts of Beano exchanged in-between words of love, softly whispered into each others’ ears … (“oh, you shouldn’t have! thank you! does this mean that you really love me?”)

Like a kiss to seal a wedding ceremony, this intimate, pivotal point in a couple’s relationship could culminate with a synchronized game of “Pull My Finger”: farts shared simultaneously. One might compare it to … the dizzying explosion of release one feels at the point of climax, or (for you less risqué types) … pulling a Christmas cracker together, without having to wear funny paper hats!

Capping the evening of the romantic, fartastic ceremony: some horizontal hokey-pokey, in a bed warmed by intimate … Dutch ovens.

Whoo! I don’t know about you, but I’m getting chills just thinking about it …

The majority of my notes published to Facebook were set for a limited amount of my contacts to read. However, there were some notes which I permitted all of my contacts to read, as well as “friends of friends”. Meaning that all 350+ of my former Facebook contacts, as well as all of their contacts could read my note about farting.

That’s a lot of people, folks!

The note was/is humourous, and — no doubt, struck a chord with many whom read it’s content. It garnered several responses from Facebook contacts, including one from a former uncle (who shared his story about a honeymoon fart, when he’d married my aunt).

I can’t remember the exact time frame (definitely within less than two months after I’d published my note to Facebook), but one morning, I sat reading that day’s new issue of 24 Hours Vancouver, and there on the page was … an article about couples farting, within the beginning stages of their relationship.

Very similar to what I’d written, weeks prior — including the line “the honeymoon’s over”!

What. The. Fuck.

The author, a local freelance writer (woman, about my age), writes a dating column in that paper, but also has work occasionally published to another well-known, freebie paper, The Georgia Straight. It appears that she also has a small online blog.

Out of respect for her talent, reputation, and credibility — and because I am now unable to find an online link to the specific piece published to that paper — she shall remain anonymous.

I am not insinuating that my work (published to Facebook) had been viewed by her (a friend of a friend?), she was “inspired-by”, nor plagiarized what I had written. No. But it’s very similar content, and the time frame which that piece of her work had succeeded my own certainly DID cause me to raise my eyebrow.

This is a small city. People know people. People are connected via Facebook.

Can you blame me for wondering about the article’s coincidentally close content, published within 4-8 weeks of my own work hitting the `net?

I clipped & pasted the content of my work, and sent her a friendly email, saying something along the lines of, “Wow. Great minds clearly think alike. Isn’t it ironic that I too wrote something similar, recently? We must be on the same wavelength. I enjoyed the humourous slant of your article.”

I blind carbon-copied that email to the editor of 24 Hours Vancouver, but no response was forthcoming from either the writer nor editor.

And like I just said: I can no longer find that piece of her work online (though it used to be published there).

Hunh!

There are a lot of talented, witty writers out there. I’m sure that this city is filled with thousands of them, competing to get their work published & make a living. Many have spent thousands of dollars on university or college educations — degrees in Journalism or English. They have worked hard, are trying to keep a roof over their head(s), and like all areas within the arts, freelance writing is a cut-throat industry. Sink or swim.

I do not have a formal education in writing. I am a self-taught, life-long writer. I have not tried to earn a living by writing. Many have suggested that I do so, and many others have sited that I can write circles around many of those whom are earning a living, writing.

I write, because it brings me joy, and I love sharing my wit with others. Hence, I’ve given it away for free, here, and previously on Facebook. I probably could stand to make a fair bit of money from what I write.

**shrug!**

Coincidence or not, it chafes my ass and upsets me when I see other local authors, having EXTREMELY SIMILAR content (to that of my own) published, weeks/months after I’ve already shared MY original, gifted content with people. Those authors are being PAID for what they’ve had published, and receive professional accolades for their work.

I have received not a penny, but praise & encouragement from friends, relatives, and strangers who love what I so generously GIVE to people to read.

Something’s not write right, here, folks!

I wonder if there shall be any “open letters” written & published by those two aforementioned columnists. You know, something similar to my Mark Darcy, penis, Jake Ryan, and vagina letters?

You can bet that I shall be watching & reading local columns with great interest. To those of you living within Vancouver, following my blog (or back from Facebook): I hope you’ll keep your eyes peeled for “coincidentally” similar content, too!Maybe my hot, new look should be coincidentally copied/posted to the local papers, too? “Yahoo Serious-chic”?

[Via http://darthkater.wordpress.com]

If It Ain't Broke...

2010-02-12T06:19:00.000+02:00

With the advent of Google Buzz, I’m starting to get tired of all the rapid changes in technology and social media. If technology is going to progress so quickly, I’d like to be able to choose whether or not I can opt in or opt out of these changes. For instance, Google Buzz simply swooped in and gave its Gmail users Twitter-like abilities and public profiles without fair warning. Facebook has changed its image and added more features so many times that it’s becoming frustrating. What was wrong with the first 500 versions of the website?

Today’s phones don’t just take calls, but also videos, photos, hold music, store important documents, act as a GPS, balance your check book, and count your calories. Anything you’d want to do in your daily life, now there is a phone app for that. Remember when text messaging was a novel concept?!

It’s hard to keep up with all these changes, especially when I preferred some of the older models better than their newer counterpoints. I’m still adjusting to the fact that VHS tapes are out along with video rental stores like Blockbuster.

In honor of my favorite “oldies, but goodies,” here are 5 technologies that are fine just the way they are:

1) The boom box. Do you really need to bring your personal computer around with you to provide music at parties? The boom box did just fine. Plus it still plays your old mix tapes.

2) The overhead projector. Invented during the 1940s, this is hands down the best way to display information on a wall in front of large groups of people. No need to worry about memory stick problems or losing your connection to the internet during a presentation.

3) A physical book. No digital reader can ever replace the feeling of holding a book in your hands and feeling the pages between your fingers (and of course the new book smell).

4) The Nokia cell phone. I agree, we all need cell phones, but you can’t even use a touch screen with your winter gloves! Flip phones tend to snap in half eventually, but the Nokia can fly down a flight of stairs (and even survive a drop in the toilet) and still accept your calls and text messages.

5) The single air conditioner unit. Forget central air. I just want my bedroom to be cold. The noise these things make is soothing, especially if white noise helps you sleep. I don’t need my whole house to be cold all the time and I like how easy you can control the temperature on these things.

What are some of your favorite technological “oldies but goodies”?

[Via http://sjwhipp.com]

Google Buzz: 2 years ago

2010-02-10T06:55:00.000+02:00

2 Years ago I wrote a blog post entitled “Dear Yahoo, Microsoft and Google mail, forget Facebook, start innovating”. Facebook was coming up strong (still is), giving headaches to everyone. And it occurred to me (and other, smarter people, like Om Malik) that these companies had an extremely strong asset that could be socialized, e-mail!

There are, even today, more people on the web using e-mail than there are people on Facebook. E-mail, as old-fashioned and clumsy as it sounds, is still at the heart of our social interactions. It has been declared dead uncountable times, mostly by people without imagination. But the basis service e-mail provides us, the ability to reach out and interact with the people we know, was there long before any social network was ever imagined.

Google made the first real attempt to innovate on e-mail, and gave us Gmail. Gmail brought a nr of important features to mail that didn’t exist before. It is web-based (and easily reachable from anywhere), has excellent SPAM filters and it gives us free storage. They added chat to it and the ability to change its appearance and functioning via scripts.

I’ve mentioned 9 improvements to mail 2 years ago. These improvements would make email more social for me. And now that I’ve watched the video on Google Buzz, it has become clear to me that Google implemented these requests (and more) into Google Buzz (I wonder, did they ever read my post )

Google never ceases to amaze me. Everyone laughed when they “missed” social networks. Everyone declared Facebook the winner. I’m sure Google would have liked to own a company like Facebook. But I’m glad Google didn’t and had to invent social networking the hard way. Building a closed walled garden was the easy way out then. Google was forced to solve the issue differently. And it turns out they had all the assets already available to them. Just think about it. They have (real-time) search, maps, localization, mobile, chat, e-mail, photos, video’s, and they most likely have you and all of your friends using Google accounts. It’s all there.

And with Google Buzz they now offer an open solution that connects and integrates with anything else Google and others have to offer. And by opening up this social space, Google has made the web just a little more User-Centric.

Well done! Let the buzz begin

ps. hat tip to @stevie_glass who pointed me to my post on Twitter this morning

[Via http://vanelsas.wordpress.com]

Stepping up to the challenge of our time

2010-02-10T06:49:00.000+02:00

The 7x9 feet three panel mural painted by the University of the Philippines Artists’ Circle Fraternity to commemorate the 20th anniversary of SV Rainbow Warrior’s bombing.

To the dismay of my colleagues here in the Philippine office I am licensed to surf the web and even accessed this pesky website called Facebook –and come to think of it is indeed really interesting what you can find over there, as a few minutes ago I was able to come across Greenpeace International’s profile picture on their page and seeing it again (although technically I see it everyday) reminded me of the my first assignments when I started to become a part of Greenpeace, fulltime, not to mention one of the first people that I’ve been glad to call a comrade in the cause who is none other than –Tomas Leonor.

It was during a rainy after noon sometime in August 2009 when I first met Tomas, remember having been assigned by the office to write an article for their project to paint a mural painted to commemorate the 20th anniversary of SV Rainbow Warrior’s bombing.

Greenpeace Activists assemble smoke-spewing coal plant at the Asian Development Bank headquarters in Manila.

Tomas was a part of the University of the Philippines Artists’ Circle Fraternity a university-based fraternity, which carried out the task of creating a 7×9 feet three panel mural which will serve as a fitting tribute to the first Rainbow Warrior which was bombed back in 1985 for its role as a symbol of the growing consensus for a nuclear-free world at the time.

During the violent direct action at Masinloc, Tomas was again one of the first activists that I interviewed at the scene after the activists were intercepted by plant security. As the years past he has been one of the more active Greenpeace volunteers who’ve dedicated his time and talent for advancing our campaigns and to add color and life in our creative confrontations with the powers that seek to jeopardize the welfare of our planet.

Greenpeace activists dress up as genetically modified (GM)'zombie' crops.

His signature can easily be seen in the works that he has done over the years here at Greenpeace not only in the Philippines but in Southeast Asia who could forget the coal plant that we constructed outside the Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters in Manila; or the Genetically Modified Zombies that blockaded the Thai Government House; to the novel solar cooker that was deployed during a cookout that was done in at the site of a soon-to-be constructed coal plant in Iloilo to demonstrate the viability of renewable energy like solar energy; to the recent alien costumes that I was able to wear during the ADB’s Climate and Clean Energy Week.

Tomas collecting plastic rubbish from Manila Bay.

A group of unidentified aliens visited the Asian Development Bank.

None can question Tomas’ flare for outrageousness and his penchant for creatively getting our attention on important issues like climate change, genetic engineering, toxics pollution and the like.

All this is evident with his recent endeavour called Step Juan which is the embodiment of Tomas’ dream of helping out children under the Cancer Warriors Treatment Program.

Step Juan is a walking expedition done by Tomas. The idea is to walk from Pagudpod to Sorsogon without any means of vehicular assistance and to do this for several weeks, straight, stopping only for food and rest. The backbone and foundation for this idea is to raise funds for the cancer children under the Cancer Warriors Foundation.

It is with great joy that I speak for the rest of Greenpeace in our support for this venture, because we know that change (whether it bee ecological, social or political) is only possible if there are people who are crazy (in a good way) enough like Tomas who seeks to step up to the challenge of the time and have fun while working to make the world a better place for all of us.

Chuck Baclagon

[Via http://greenpeacesoutheastasia.wordpress.com]

pramleeelvis.wordpress.com is now Ranked No.64,764 on Alexa's Top Malaysian Websites

2010-02-08T06:55:00.000+02:00

This is the latest Malaysian Rankings on Alexa:

ALEXA’s Rankings

Top Sites in Malaysia

as of today(8thFeb,2010)

The top 100 sites in Malaysia. The sites in the top sites lists are ordered by their 1 month alexa traffic rank.

The 1 month rank is calculated using a combination of average daily visitors and pageviews over the past month. The site with the highest combination of visitors and pageviews is ranked #1.

Facebook

facebook.com
A social utility that connects people, to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos.
Google

google.com.my
google.com.my
Yahoo!

yahoo.com
Personalized content and search options. Chatrooms, free e-mail, clubs, and pager.
Google

google.com
Enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images. Features include PageRank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages. The company’s focus is developing search technology.
YouTube – Broadcast yourself

youtube.com
YouTube is a way to get your videos to the people who matter to you. Upload, tag and share your videos worldwide!
Blogger.com

blogger.com
Free, automated weblog publishing tool that sends updates to a site via FTP.
Windows Live

live.com
Search engine from Microsoft.
Wikipedia

wikipedia.org
An online collaborative encyclopedia.
Microsoft Network (MSN)

msn.com
Dialup access and content provider.
Maybank2u.com, A Complete One-stop Financial Portal

maybank2u.com.my
maybank2u.com.my
Myspace

myspace.com
Social Networking Site.
Mudah.my

mudah.my
mudah.my
The Star Online

thestar.com.my
Breaking news and views from Malaysia’s top English language news source
WordPress.com

wordpress.com
Free blogs managed by the developers of the WordPress software. Includes custom design templates, integrated statistics, automatic spam protection and other features.
Tagged

tagged.com
Tagged.com is one of the top social networking sites in the world.
Malaysiakini.com

malaysiakini.com
Malaysiakini.com, a subscription-based website, offers news and views that matter in Malaysia. Updated daily, the site has won several awards for its quality reporting. In English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil.
Friendster

friendster.com
Friendster is a leading global social network emphasizing genuine friendships and the discovery of new people through friends. Search for old friends and classmates, stay in better touch with friends, share photos and videos, and so much more.
Lowyat.NET

lowyat.net
Malaysia s Tech Enthusiast Resource Community. Tech News, Reviews and hyper active discussion forums focusing on the Malaysian IT scene.
Cari Malaysia

cari.com.my
One of the most popular local Malaysian community website started in 1996. The three languages forum, English, Malay, and Chinese are the largest and most popular in Malaysian community. Also provides directory listing of over 30,000 Malaysia related web sites and company details.
RapidShare

rapidshare.com
Users can upload up to 100 meg files for sharing. Provides downloads of 100 megs per hour on the free service. Premium service also available.

Rank No: 64,764

Pramleeelvis.wordpress.com

Ramli Abu Hassan’s Blog

[Via http://pramleeelvis.wordpress.com]

A sentence I swore by.

2010-02-08T06:37:00.000+02:00

My sentence: “I promise nothing other than to devote time, adoration, and passion to my family, friends, professional life, and personal life and I will do just that.”

First and foremost, I absolutely dislike talking about myself. It’s the worst thing ever. Give me a topic to discuss and I will state my blunt opinions but it better not be about myself. I get very nervous and get the butterflies. However, I liked this assignment because it actually took me 45 minutes to figure out a sentence that hit right on the mark and is honest.

I can’t write a professional sentence without incorporating the people and things that matter most to me in my life. My family and friends come before my career. Careers can come and go, but family and true friends never leave your side. I can’t even go a day without speaking to every member of my family or friend about what they had for dinner or thought about a tv show – which is standard procedure. (Notice how I am rambling because I don’t know what to say).

What I do know is that my sentence could not be complete without incorporating spending time and loving the momements captured with the people I love and the activities I love to do.

Social media and the rapid technological advances constantly change my sentence, both positively and negatively. The more communication devices created, the many more ways in keeping in touch with what matters most to me. On the contrary, the more advances, the less time spent building a relationship one-on-one and the more time spent on facebook, twitter, and text messaging. But wait, no one can live without them.

[Via http://gmurante7.wordpress.com]

Facebook Threat

2010-02-05T06:52:00.000+02:00

Because he’s the only person in Dubai who has no Facebook account, I told Jules, “Kapag ‘di ka gumawa ng facebook, ako gagawa para sa’yo. Gusto mong makakita ng mga status messages na: Jules is *** o gusto mo relationship status na Jules hates Ann? O kaya naman mang-aaway ka ng ibang tao sa facebook. Deadline mo hangang March ha?”

With that, he finally made one.

[Via http://orleebaldedara.wordpress.com]

Roundup: Best Writing Advice

2010-02-05T06:38:00.000+02:00

Today, and only because you love them: a roundup. The focus? “Best Writing Advice.” Here are a few key suggestions turned up by a Google search.

1. Knuckle down. You’re gonna be at it for a while. This guy says it’ll take you at least ten years before you can expect to reap any rewards from your creative writing. I’d say it varies, but for the most part he’s right (even if he does use too many adjectives). Even Malcolm Gladwell says it takes about ten thousand hours of practice to become an expert at anything.

2. Don’t be repetitive. Uh oh: I think I’ve said this before. But at the risk of being, um, repetitive: be wary of using the same word too many times within one document, article, or – god forgive you – paragraph. In my writing for The Corporation, I’ve discovered I have an embarrassing fondness for the word rich. I’m always mentioning BC’s rich history, or the rich stories of this land, or the richly textured stories presented in the galleries and exhibitions. (Gets a bit rich after a while.) Word to the wise: Under the Edit menu, the “find” function is your loyal friend. It’ll help you locate and decimate those unintentional acts of repetition.

(And what’s with my little rich obsession, anyway?)

3. The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. It’s a golden oldie, isn’t it? But while this adage may have held true a dozen years ago or more, you don’t need me to tell you that email, Facebook, twitter, YouTube and millions of other time wasters are just waiting for the seat of your pants to park themselves in front of the computer. I still haven’t figured out how to ignore these and other distractions when I’ve got Stuff To Write. If there were one on the market today, I’d put my hard-earned money toward an app that locks me out of cyberspace for 90-minute intervals, thereby forcing me to work. (According to Tony Schwartz, author of The Power of Full Engagement, ninety minutes is about how long our brains can remain productively focused on a single task. I am patiently, agonizingly working my way up from four.)

4. Show, don’t tell. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass,” wrote Anton Chekhov. Closely related to this is E.L. Doctorow’s suggestion that “Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader – not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.”

I agree. In fact, I agree so much that I’ve alluded to it in a previous post somewhere, but I can’t find it right now and it’s getting late, so you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.

So here we have four reasonably good pieces of advice about how to approach the craft of writing. But I gotta leave the last words – the best advice of all – to C.S. Lewis, creator of the Narnia series and igniter of children’s imaginations the world over (and, coincidentally, sharer of my birth date):

5. “Always write (and read) with the ear, not the eye. You should hear every sentence you write as if it was being read aloud or spoken.” Every time I sit down to write to you through Infernal Memo, I want to say things just this way. I don’t believe I succeed very often, because I don’t tend to speak in run-on sentences and in the real world I can never relay stories in any sort of logical manner and I’m not even particularly funny in person. But I like it, this act of trying to write the same way I talk. Just like you’re sitting across from me in the saggy, mauve, edges-rubbed-away wingback chair – or better yet, across the table over a cup of coffee and gingerbread at Bubby Rose’s.

Here’s my question to you, in three parts: when you write, do you hear your voice saying the words? Do you hear inflections and pauses? Do you try out syllables and parts of words on your tongue as you wait for the right ones to come?

[Via http://infernalmemo.wordpress.com]

Online Suicide. [Don't get emo - it is not what you might be thinking.]

2010-02-03T06:43:00.000+02:00

I made a decision last week to delete both my MySpace and my Facebook accounts. I had been thinking about it for a while for myriad reasons, but every time I considered it, I came up with a reason not to do it: But, I have all those photos on there… But, how will I know about all those ‘events’… But, what if that ONE person I MUST meet is on there… But, what if I miss something really, really, really cool…

Yeah, right.

I spent a lot of time as an adolescent worrying about missing shit. Like, if you were not somewhere, something amazing might happen. This caused me tremendous stress the one time I was put on “restriction” by my mother for antics that had gone just a few steps too far. My mom decided that I would be on “restriction” and this meant that I had to be home by 9 pm on weekdays (you know, all those nights spent at the Petaluma Public Library – working so hard…) and I could only go out one night on the weekend with a midnight curfew. I thought my life was over. Only one night? What if I picked the wrong one? Oh.My.God. Total devastation. Looking back on this now I have to laugh for a couple of reasons: 1) I lived in freaking Petaluma after all, if it happened on a Friday it was gonna happen again on a Saturday and truth be told, shit rarely ever happened… and 2) The fact that what I just described was restriction is sort of hilarious – my unborn children better hope they never cross the line because I will lock them down – and for the record, after like five months of said “restriction” I asked my mom when – oh when! – would it be over and she went for the total killer blow saying, with complete coolness and appropriate aplomb, “Oh, yeah, I suppose it can be over now.” Talk about fished in. Mom, FTW.

Anyhow, to have this happening in my adult life was becoming too much of a recurring and horrifying déjà vu.

There were some other issues. I am really irritated at how both sites are operating and using our information/photos/etc – regardless of the fact that there are “Terms of Use” and the framework itself may necessitate said operations. The more I read about how they work, the more I don’t like it. Then I checked out the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine and it really made me think. [It is with no small bit of irony that the reason I heard about the Suicide Machine was through a blog I am linked to on Facebook.] But the developers of the concept have a point. Get back into the real world.

Then consider the fact that I have more than 300 “friends” on Facebook, and 150 or so on Myspace. [This after much culling, which has led to all sorts of drama. I have actually received emails asking why people had been deleted. From the people in question as well as other friends. Seriously. And then, someone I know was speaking to another person about me, and person #2 said, "Well, can Amanda be trusted? She deleted me from Facebook." I know you think I must be making this shit up - but I assure you, I am not. ] Who the FUCK has 500 friends? I mean, SERIOUSLY. I have already expounded on Dunbar’s number here, so I will not bore you with that, but SERIOUSLY. And the politics of social network friends. Holy Mother of God. I know there are tons of articles about it already, but it is like people lose their sense of reality when they enter the virtual world of social networking. Perhaps that is the point for some people, but where have the boundaries gone? In real life, you have to have a reason to be someone’s friend, don’t you? Just because you know Person A does not mean you are therefore friends with all of Person A’s friends… or does it? Though, to be sure I have fallen on both sides of this equation as well, as I mentioned here.

It is entirely likely that this is totally about me, and not the social networks. Consider this story: I returned to Petaluma for my 8th grade year after having been in Seattle and San Diego since the 3rd grade. I had wanted to “go back” to Petaluma since about ten minutes after leaving the place and had made it abundantly clear (sorry Mom & T.) When I did get back, everything was different. I have already talked a lot about that here, but suffice it to say, nothing was as I remembered, people had new friends, I was the freaky tall “new” kid and the social order – not to mention the mores – were totally foreign to me. When we received our school pictures that year, about a month in, I was approached by my (eventual) dear friend Kelly C. Kelly asked me for one of my pictures. I looked at her with what I am sure was confusion, but I know it just looked snotty. I replied, “Why do you want one of my pictures, you don’t even know me?” [Kelly still tells this damn story all the time, so I suppose I can too...] Kelly was like, “Whatever.” I am fairly certain she added a few other choice words there too. Looking back on it, I see both sides. I understand now what I did not then, which is that the number of school pictures one had was a very big deal. It was the absolute quantitative demonstration of one’s social viability. And for 12 year-olds I think that is mildly appropriate. I also see my side of the story, which was why would people want to have photos of people they did not know? Perhaps it was a way to get to know someone. Perhaps it was just the thing to do. Either way the similarities to the current friend situation of online social networks seem about the same. I suppose there are good and bad reasons to collect friends, but I liked it better when we ‘made’ friends. [Don't even get me started on the way that 'friend' has become a verb. So annoying.]

You may be an ambassador to England or France,

You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,

You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,

You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You’re gonna have to serve somebody,

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

Then there was what had started to show signs of an addiction to life on line. Is that who I want to serve? Like, knowing things about people that I barely knew, and so then having this really weird sort of intimate knowledge when in fact we should be more like “What’s up?’ type of friends. That, I suppose, is a result of online stalking of your friends, and their friends and so on and so forth… of which I am guilty. And that is creepy. But ultimately it came to this: I was taken in by a connection on line one year ago – almost to the day. I was absolutely gobsmacked at how cool this person was. I began to seriously live for being on line… including changing sleeping patterns and social engagements to accommodate conversations. And though that came to a well known dissolution (hello, euphemism!) it did initiate a pattern of behavior that I did not like. Not one little bit.

So, when I made the decision to delete the accounts.. I checked to see how I felt about it. I considered what I would lose. Would I lose friends? Family? I sort of doubted it. I deleted the apps from my iPhone and nothing really happened. I did not get more or less interaction I simply discovered that I had all this time. Time to look around a little more. Time to read. Time to write. Time to sleep. Suddenly the thought of not having those pages pop up on my computer seemed really great. And then people started to ask me about it. A guy at work (who thinks he knows me better than he does) said, “But you LIVE for Facebook.” Uh, no. There are a few other things. Mostly though, the questions were legitimate, and honestly, the people who I spoke to about it are definitely people I will stay in touch with. My friend Mikey V, who I met only because of MySpace (serious) sent me a very reasonable message – Why? FB makes it so easy to link to your blogs and keep up… And he is right. To this end I certainly do not discount ever re-joining the world of online socializing, and I am keeping a dummy page to have my blog upload so my friends have and easy way to track that because I have to admit, Facebook has hugely increased traffic to my blog and this certainly soothes my savage ego. What I told Mike and I will share here is the following:

I want to not have Facebook be something that takes up time in my life, and I know I do not have the discipline to not constantly be wondering what “might” be happening out there in the world of online social networking… it is certainly not some sort of test, like to see who my real friends are or something, but at the same time, I think it will make the interactions I have with people a little more meaningful, at least on my end – more intentional, you know? Lastly, one year ago, almost to the day, I got really sucked into something that I thought was one thing and was clearly another, and a lot of it had to do with this new world of living on line. It is something that taught me a lot and is also a reason why I want to step away. I want more time in the meatspace – not cyberspace. It is so easy to hide away in – or behind – all this stuff, especially as an ex-pat when the desire for connection might be that much greater.

I think I am more at risk for delving into an online life than others because it is such a connection to people from ‘home’ and I have my struggles with finding the genuine purpose in my life as an ex-pat. Plus, let’s face it, I am nosy. There are a lot of things that I like in the world of online social networks to be sure. But I believe I can get them in other ways. I like the photos – those are easily shared a million ways. I like the occasional “Wow! That person… haven’t heard from them in a while!” I like seeing the funny side of my students, who honestly impress me constantly with their insights and senses of humor. I like the ease of event maintenance, but you hear about them in the meatspace simultaneously and I honestly just don’t go to that many events. But there are a lot of things I cannot stand about it either. Farmville. Mafia Wars. Apps. The perpetuation of negativity. Dishonesty. Entitlement. Social lubrication. The slow, but sure replacement of direct contact.

I do not think these sites are going to go away, but I think the future of all them is in the business and branding realm. For interpersonal connections and building friendship? You have to get real.

For real.

I was asked about keeping in touch and I hope that the people who are interested in keeping in touch do – I know I will. I still have the same email address and I am keeping my blogs active (this one and my photo blog) and my Twitter account. Plus, you never know, I might be back. For now I just need a little time away from the machine. As my friend Anna said, (the one who reminded me of the importance of the meatspace when things were looking a little (a lot) dodgy):

“Ah, the first stage in reentry! Welcome home Major Tom.”

(image courtesy of this site.)

[Via http://shakingthetree.wordpress.com]

How to create a facebook page for your web site

2010-02-03T06:08:00.000+02:00

Log into Facebook
open Create New Facebook Page.
Select appropriate category
Name the page
Add some cool image, and some info about the page
If your website is syndicated (RSS) then import the RSS feed, to auto populate when new content is added, then Select “Edit Page”
Select “Notes” +”Edit”
Select “Import a Blog”
place your RSS URL in Web URL field. (if your word press your url is http://BLOGNAME.wordpress.com/feed/
Select “Start Importing”
Select Confirm Import
Update your web site.
Become a fan by selecting “Become a Fan”
Suggest the page to friends by selecting “Suggest To Friends”

Jumptack Facebook page

[Via http://jumptack.wordpress.com]

Join Guerilla Grocery Choice on FaceBook!!

2010-02-01T06:52:00.000+02:00

I’ve created a group on FaceBook called Guerilla Grocery Choice Australia, join up!

I’ll be asking members to tell me what they paid for items on a weekly basis. This week is the iconic Australian biscuit made by Arnott’s: the Tim Tam 175g. You’ll need to go to the group & see what I’ve paid, and how many packets I’ve bought this week.

I’ve also uploaded pics from Coles in-store advertising…

See you on Facebook, of course my receipts will still be here.

[Via http://fabulousandwitty.wordpress.com]

February - Snow and Wind

2010-02-01T06:42:00.000+02:00

The picture is one I posted on Facebook last week. This week’s title comes from a prediction by one of our Latvian neighbours. It is 7:15 am on February 1st as I write this. I just opened the door to check the weather and it is snowing, but no wind at the moment. We heard yesterday that this has been a bad winter the worst in the last 8 years. I haven’t checked into this as to its truth but if that is so we have done very well with the circumstances we have been handed. My dream at the moment is to have our log house built and completely ready for next winter; to thoroughly winterize every aspect of living to the extreme and enjoy Spring and Summer to the fullest possible experiences.

My motto for 2010 is ‘Live in the moment with a heart prepared for change.’ My human tendency is to try to figure out what’s coming so I can get ready (prepared) but God says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Does that mean I shouldn’t prepare, I don’t think so. Yet, it does mean not to count on or build my security on my preparedness. We began our life here on the farm knowing we weren’t prepared for the extremes winter might bring and we face difficulties because we weren’t prepared. Even some of our preparations failed but for the most part our hearts have not been locked on to the preparation for winter other wise we would be most depressed. We are learning to live in the moment and adapt as necessary. In praying for God to guard our hearts I am most concerned that my heart not be focused on faulty belief systems that are rife not only in the world but in the church. Some of these ‘unbelief’ systems are rooted in from times long past, things that move us, however slight, from a complete surrender to our Lord, Jesus Christ. Am I completely surrendered? Rarely, if ever, but my hope is in Him not in myself to refine me to that place of total surrender.

So what are we doing amidst all this snow? “Not much,” as Ian would say, lol. Ian has shovelled snow a bit now and again. I attempt to do a ‘bit’ in the house, but again not much. We spend a lot of time on our computers, Ian is back on Facebook and I continue some fun time playing virtual farm games on the beast (FB.) Another bit I heard yesterday, there are more people playing Farmville on Facebook than there are people in the whole of the UK. I enjoy meeting people from all over the world as I play this game, including several Christians, many of whom now pray for us here in Latvia. Just to give you an insight, the creators of the game Farmville have announced in the last 24 hours that if 1,000,000 people request it, they will add a church to the buildings available on the game. They indicated they might add other houses of worship later. It all came about because at Christmas on the Farmville game there were no items directly related to Jesus birth and many have complained. Once the awareness was raised of this dissatisfaction level we are now offered a church building. It does pay to speak up so those who make decisions will hear. I have shared many conversations about trusting in Christ on the game Farm Town because I have a permanent large cross built in 3D format on my farm. So though you may dismiss playing virtual games on social networks, it’s not for everyone, I have found it a new and encouraging way to share faith in Jesus Christ.

Another indoor pursuit is enjoying films together, often with popcorn, even, lol. Now I am not a fan of Clint Eastwood but — Ian has his WHOLE collection of films and we have watched most of them, now. He also has a war film collection again not my first choice but as we watch we share our different perspectives on various conflicts and I have learned much of life in England during WWII and after with rationing, billeting of soldiers, the American troops in Britain and such. On occasion we dip into my small collection of rom coms, period pieces and so forth and so on. It is nice to have the popcorn (Microwave) to accompany our film hour(s.)

All long with the snow shovelling we had another even this past week. Our next door neighbours offered to phone our neighbour on the other side of our farm and ask him to plow our driveway as the snow build up was reaching a level that might prevent us from getting out to the road. So along came Leoneides who helped fell our dangerous Oak tree in September. In the picture you see Leoneides and his blue tractor complete with rear loader acting as a snow plow while Ian looks on. He made us two driveways in case one drifted over and one has done just that, drifted over. Yesterday when friends called to ask us to meet them in Madona for a meal we were able to drive right out nice and easy. The cost of plowing, 3 Ls. and it will need doing again probably this week. At 8:26 am the wind is now blowing steadily and the snow is drifting a bit.

One other event I want to highlight is Ian’s prowess in the baking department. He loves his bread machine and launched into a new endeavor on Saturday. He made some lovely crusty rolls and they were delicious hot out of the oven with butter. He was experimenting by adding bran to the flour mixture. He also made one of his fruit loaves that is a lovely healthy snack to much on these cold snowy days.

Finally, Ian, at my urging, bought me an early birthday gift. I have down loaded a ‘Expressing Faith through Writing’ course. It is a very basic course just to get my writing juices flowing again. I plan to go on to the next course after finishing these 9 lessons with the thought toward writing articles for faith magazines. I also hope to get some discipline into the writing idea so that I can make this long held dream a reality. Watch this space. lol

[Via http://ergliangel45.wordpress.com]

Addictions?

2010-01-29T06:51:00.000+02:00

Better than being 60% addicted to heroin, or 20% addicted to skydiving without a parachute, or even 5% addicted to serial killing or sniffing broken glass, I suppose. LOL.

I may also be 90% addicted to tea and books, both of which cost more and stack up higher than Facebook, literally. I have enough books to start a small library. And at least 98% addicted to art supplies, some of which are more toxic than glass or heroin.

Time to get more tea.

[Via http://plasticpumpkin.wordpress.com]

The Two Words Bill Gates Doesn't Want You to Hear...

2010-01-29T06:37:00.000+02:00

Plus, the 2 companies poised to rule the post-Microsoft world

On October 30, 2005, something incredible happened…

In Redmond, Washington, one of the world’s richest — and most powerful — businessmen sent an urgent memo to his top engineers and most-trusted managers.

It sounded the alarm that a very disruptive “wave” was about to wash over the entire world — forever changing the way we get information and do business.

It also warned this would wipe out the $200 billion business empire he’d spent his life building.

Meanwhile, a few hundred miles south, on the banks of the Columbia River, a mysterious outfit known only as “Design, LLC,” quietly constructed two massive windowless warehouses.

This mammoth undertaking was code named “Project 2,” and the International Herald Tribune described the towering monolithic structures as “looming like an information-age nuclear plant.”

This may sound like something out of a Tom Clancy novel, but you’ll want to have all the facts because…

Merrill Lynch estimates this “wave” has grown into a $160 billion tsunami.

And experts say it’s going to upend a $1 trillion industry. Yet very few investors understand just how huge it’s going to be.

That’s why it’s crucial to take the next few minutes to read this report in its entirety.

At the very least, you’ll get the full story so you can decide for yourself if you’ll be front and center when the big money starts rolling in.

But be warned, the smart money is on the move…

A handful of investors are already quietly positioning themselves to cash in on this incredible economic shift. Soon, tens of thousands will be rushing to join them.

One of the most lucrative investment opportunities we’ll ever encounter

The next great technological revolution is already under way.

And now that the last pieces are falling into place, the floodgates are beginning to open.

Which is exactly where you come in…Just ask David Gardner, co-founder of The Motley Fool. He’s convinced that this technological shift will dump millions of dollars into the portfolios of investors just like you.

You’ve probably seen David on CNBC discussing his favorite growth stocks with some of the nation’s other top-tier equity analysts. Or perhaps you’ve read one of his many best-selling investment books…

Or maybe you’re just familiar with some of his remarkable stock recommendations… eBay in 1999… Starbucks in 1998… AOL in 1994… Amgen in 1998… Amazon in 1997.

Regardless, it’s not hard to see why Money.com says he’s “among the most widely followed stock advisors in the world.”

And surely you can understand why anytime David gets excited about an investment opportunity, people stand up and take notice…

He’s been closely tracking the development of this blockbuster technology and the 3 dominant players heading the revolution.

These are the companies he believes will rule their respective industries over the next 5 to 10 years and hand investors life-changing wealth along the way.

Recent developments have him particularly excited about one of the companies. Right now he considers it the No. 1 way to profit from this coming technological boom. And he’s telling his followers to snap up shares immediately.

To see why he’s so convinced about this company, you must learn the six traits he looks for in a growth stock — and how they have led him to companies that have soared 231%, 233%, 375% and even 478% in just the past four years.

But first, a little bit more about this amazing technology and why, once again…

The Unimaginable Is Fast Becoming a Reality

You probably remember when computers took up entire rooms and were used only by companies that needed to do intense mathematical calculations.

That all changed when Intel unveiled the microprocessor and a geeky college dropout started writing software with his former high school pal.

Thanks to the virtual desktop they developed, the PC quickly replaced the mainframe as the center of corporate computing and began showing up in homes across America.

Before long, companies began building interoffice networks so that their employees could run programs like Microsoft Word and Excel on their PCs and also access programs, files, and printers from a central server.

But this model was far from perfect.

Due to a lack of standards in computing hardware and software, competing products were rarely compatible — making PC networks far more inefficient than their mainframe predecessors.

In fact, most servers ended up being used as single-purpose machines that ran a single software application or database.

And every time a company needed to add a new application, it was forced to expand its data centers, replace or reprogram old systems, and hire IT technicians to keep everything running.

As a result, global IT spending jumped from under $100 billion a year in the early 1970s to over $1 trillion a year by the turn of the century.

Here’s the dirty secret behind this mind-boggling growth — and the two words that will put an end to the party

IT consulting firm IDC reports that every dollar a company spends on a Microsoft product results in an additional $8 of IT expenses.

And one IT expert admits, “Trillions of dollars that companies have invested into information technology have gone to waste.“

Yet, companies have had no choice but to run these obscenely expensive and highly inefficient networks.

But that’s all about to change…

And that’s precisely why the two words “cloud computing” scare the hell out of Bill Gates.

You see, thanks to the thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable laid during the late 1990s, the speed of computer networks has finally caught up to the speed of the computer processors.

Suddenly computers that were once incompatible and isolated are now linked in a giant network, or “cloud.”

As a result, computing is fast becoming a utility in much the same way that electricity did…

“The next sea change is upon us.” — Bill Gates

Think back a few years — anytime you wanted to type a letter, create a spreadsheet, edit a photo, or play a game, you had to go to the store, buy the software, and install it on your computer.

But nowadays, if you want to look up restaurants on Google… find directions on MapQuest… watch a video on YouTube… or sell furniture on Craigslist… all you need is a computer with an Internet connection.

Although these activities require you to use your PC, none of the content you are accessing or the applications you are running are actually stored on your computer — instead they’re stored at a giant data center somewhere in the “cloud.”

And you don’t give any of it a second thought… just like you don’t think twice about where the electricity is coming from when you plug an appliance into the wall.

But cloud computing isn’t going to be just a modern convenience — it’s going to be an enormous industry.

You see, everyone from individuals to multinational corporations can now simply tap into the “cloud” to get all the things they used to have to supply and maintain themselves. This will save some companies millions and make others billions.

“Is cloud computing the next big thing?”

That’s the title of an article in PC Magazine.

The answer was an overwhelming yes. And PC Magazine isn’t the only one taking note of this sweeping trend…

The Economist claims, “As computing moves online, the sources of power and money will increasingly be enormous ‘computing clouds.’”

David Hamilton of the Financial Post says this technology “has the potential to shower billions in revenues on companies that embrace it.”

And Nicholas Carr, former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review, has even written an entire book on the subject, entitled The Big Switch. In it, he asserts: “The PC age is giving way to a new era: the utility age.”

He goes on to make this prediction: “Rendered obsolete, the traditional PC is replaced by a simple terminal — a ‘thin client’ that’s little more than a monitor hooked up to the Internet.”

While that may sound far-fetched, in the corporate market, sales of these “thin clients” have been growing at over 20 percent per year — far outpacing the sales of PCs.

According to market-research firm IDC, the U.S. is now home to more than 7,000 data centers just like the one constructed on the banks of the Columbia River in 2005.

And the number of servers operating within these massive data centers is expected to grow to nearly 16 million by 2010 — that’s three times as many as a decade ago.

“Data centers have become as vital to the functioning of society as power stations.” — The Economist

The simple truth is that cloud computing is becoming as big a part of our everyday lives as cell phones or cable television.

And one company is shaping up to be a remarkable way for investors like you to cash in on the fast-moving cloud computing technology.

You may already know what it is… and you may have even guessed that it’s the real face behind Design, LLC.

But what you may not realize is that this is still an excellent time to get invested — despite what many so-called “experts” in the financial media might be telling you…

Buying This Tech Juggernaut Today Is Like Buying Microsoft in 1990

Don’t forget, even after the dot-com collapse and the recent market sell-off, every $10,000 invested in Microsoft would now be worth over $500,000.

Even a modest $3,000 investment would have grown into more than $150,000!

Just imagine what you could do with that kind of money…

Now imagine being given a second chance to secure that kind of profit.

Well, look here… this is your second chance.

You see, like Microsoft in the early 1990s, Google [Nasdaq: GOOG] is just getting started.

It’s already won the search engine war, set the standard for online advertising, and turned the company’s name into a word tens of millions of people use daily.

And now it’s fast becoming synonymous with the future of computing…

Over 500,000 companies — including GE [NYSE: GE] and Procter & Gamble [NYSE: PG] — have already signed up for Google Apps.

This grab bag of business applications can be purchased and run over the Web for just $50 per year and is just one of many Google products now giving Microsoft a run for its money.

Considering that Google Apps costs just one-tenth of what a traditional business software suite does, it’s no surprise that more than 2,000 businesses are signing up per day.

No wonder the Financial Post says, “The cost savings in offering scaled-down versions of large enterprise software is making cloud computing a huge business.”

But at just $50 a pop, you might be wondering how big this business can really get.

Industry research firm Gartner, Inc., says the market for Internet-based software hit $5.1 billion last year and conservatively estimates it will more than double to $11.5 billion by 2011.

But don’t forget, this is just one small part of the giant and highly profitable cloud computing world.

Given its dominance over the online world, massive network of strategic partnerships, and unmatched ability to innovate, you can bet the great majority of the fortunes generated by cloud computing will flow through Google’s coffers.

Even so, you may be wondering…

Isn’t it too late to buy Google?

Not at all!

Well, let’s just say this isn’t the first time David has recommended a stock after the hotshots on Wall Street declared it was “too late”…

Back in 2005, he recommended robotic surgery specialist Intuitive Surgical to a small group of opportunistic investors.

At the time, shares were selling for $44.17. One year prior, shares had sold for $17.46, and a year before that they were selling for just $8.68.

You read that right… Intuitive Surgical had risen 500% in the two years before he recommended it — and that scared lesser investors off.

But this visionary investor recognized that Intuitive Surgical was both “top dog” and “first mover” in its industry and still had plenty of room to run…

Shares traded as high as $359.59, and even after the recent market downturn, those who followed his lead are sitting on a whopping 555% gain.

Had you joined them, you could have turned $10,000 into a brand-new car… or a year or two of college tuition… or a prestigious golf-club membership — and all in just 3 short years.

And this wasn’t just some sort of lucky break or fluke, either.

You see, David’s world-famous career began when he caught the financial media’s attention by recommending AOL in the summer of 1994 – after it had quadrupled in just 12 short months.

Of course, the story is the same with AOL — he recognized it as both a top dog and a first mover in an important emerging industry and knew it was only getting started.

Six years later, AOL was a 200-bagger, turning every $10,000 invested into a whopping $2 million — and this growth investor into a living legend.

Here are just a few more of the top dogs and first movers he’s uncovered recently:

Myriad Genetics — locked in 252% gains
Millennium Pharmaceuticals — locked in 142% gains
Vertex Pharmaceuticals — up 304%… and counting!

Surely you’d love to have gains like that in your portfolio… Any investor would.

Well, you’re in luck because now David is extremely excited about the incredible profit potential of 3 companies he calls…

The 3 Kings of Cloud Computing

These are 3 exceptionally well-run companies that David and his team of cutting-edge equity analysts have identified as both top dogs and first movers in their respective industries.

You already heard about Google, and just ahead you’ll get all the details on the others — including David’s No. 1 cloud computing pick.

But first, you’re probably wondering how David can be so sure about these companies. It’s quite simple really — they all have…

The 6 traits of a Rule Breaker

David begins his search by looking for what equity analysts call “top dogs” and “first movers.”

A “top dog” is a company that dominates its industry… and a “first mover” is a company with a technology or product so revolutionary that it disrupts an existing industry and creates an entirely new one.

On the rare occasion that you find a company that is both a top dog and a first mover, the chances are pretty good that you’ve found your next big winner…

Just think of eBay in the online auction market… Amazon in the online retail market… or Netflix in the DVD-rental market (David led investors to big gains on all three).

These companies redefined the way business was done, launched entirely new industries, and continue to dominate those industries to this day. And you don’t need me to tell you how handsomely they’ve rewarded shareholders along the way.

So you can see why David and his Rule Breakers teamwork around the clock to find companies that are both top dogs and first movers.

But they don’t stop there… Because David discovered long ago that in order to find companies that will deliver truly life-changing investment returns, you have to break the rules and go against much of what passes for “wisdom” on Wall Street.

That’s why he searches for companies with…

a sustainable competitive advantage that can be exploited for years to come
strong past price appreciation
excellent management
strong consumer appeal

And here’s the big one…

documented proof that the financial media thinks it’s “overvalued”

Remember, many of David’s biggest winners were recommended after all the fast-talking experts on Wall Street already declared you’d missed your chance to buy.

And it’s much the same story with the second king of cloud computing he’s recommending you buy today…

A Bona Fide Rule Breaker With Very Real Profits

Not only does this company meet all of David’s criteria for a classic Rule Breaker, but it also has a stranglehold on a niche market that’s absolutely essential to the future of cloud computing.

This rising tech superstar designs extremely complex software that allows central servers to function in the first place.

While the market for this software sits at roughly $1 billion today, it is estimated it will soar to $5 billion by 2011 — an astonishing 50% compound growth rate.

And thanks to various patents, a considerable head start, and immense technical know-how, there is very little chance competitors will be able to wrestle the lion’s share of that $5 billion away from this company.

So it’s no wonder over the past two years, VMware [NYSE: VMW] has seen its revenue climb at a 30% clip. Not to mention, returns on equity and invested capital have never dropped below double digits.

But here’s what has really caught David’s attention…

A recent shake-up in management has caused shares to tumble well below their fair value — giving investors who act now a rare opportunity to snap up an incredible growth stock on the cheap.

But ambitious investors might be able to do even better…

You see, David is convinced another revolutionary company is changing everything about how we use computers. As more and more people and businesses go online, its rampant success will continue — and richly reward savvy investors who buy shares now…

This Company Makes the Internet Fly

When David first recommended this company to the

Rule Breakers community back in 2005, he admitted it wasn’t “cheap.” Since then, it’s up 105% — handing our group some nice gains.

David still admits it’s not cheap… but with the arrival of cloud computing, he’s more excited than ever about its potential to make investors rich.

In fact, its potential currently outshines both Google and VMware — making it the No. 1 cloud computing play for new money.

You see, it works behind the scenes to make sure you can access everything the Web has to offer at lightning-fast speeds.

And thanks to the ever-growing number of people now using the Internet to do everything from watch movies to buy houses, this once-flailing refugee of the dot-com meltdown is now one of the most important tech companies in the world.

Apple [Nasdaq: AAPL], Microsoft [Nasdaq: MSFT], Sony [NYSE: SNE], and Nintendo [NTDOY.PK] are among its top clients — and they’re all more than happy to pay up for the quality this company consistently delivers.

While this usually runs somewhere in the neighborhood of $275,000 per year, more and more complex applications are coming online all the time — giving this company even greater pricing power.

At last count, it had more than 100 clients paying $1 million or more per year. So it’s no wonder that cash from operations has more than tripled from $83 million in 2005 to over $390 million today… Or that the cash on its balance sheet has grown from just $92 million to over $200 million today.

You can bet that this growth will only accelerate as cloud computing becomes an even more vital part of our personal and professional lives.

And because it is both a top dog and a first mover, it has been able to gain an almost insurmountable lead in market share — allowing it to sport superb operating margins.

Gross margins currently sit at an incredible 76%; meanwhile, net margins have climbed to an all-time high of 18% — and continue to grow.

All things considered, you can understand why David thinks this will be one of the most dominant players in the cloud computing world for years to come.

And by becoming a Rule Breaker, you can get its name and stake your claim before the big money gets behind it.

But you may be asking yourself…

Is now really a good time to be buying growth stocks?

Sure, the market looks pretty grim.

But David’s not worried.

For one thing, our current economic situation bears a striking similarity to the economic downturn of the early 1990s. And Morningstar reports that during that recession, growth stocks more than doubled the return of “value” stocks.

For another thing, SmartMoney recently confirmed that “growth stocks can excel even if the broad market continues to stumble.” In fact, it reported that right now, “analysts expect better profit prospects for growth stocks than for value stocks.”

Money manager Dan Becker says, “Growth is as rare as a diamond, and everyone’s looking for it.”

Meaning, right now, we have a historic opportunity to snap up Hope Diamond investments at cubic zirconia prices.

A small number of investors will build bold fortunes…

Will you be one of them? You could be.

How? Simply join our Rule Breakers community absolutely without any risk.

This is hands down your best opportunity to ride the wave of cloud computing all the way to massive profits — and get full details on the No. 1 company spearheading the charge.

You see, at Rule Breakers, we stand behind every piece of advice, insight, and recommendation we make, with 100% confidence. Your complete satisfaction is guaranteed — or your money back!

This is our “keep everything” & “risk nothing” DOUBLE GUARANTEE

Go ahead and take a good look at every breakout company we’ve uncovered — including the No. 1 king of cloud computing you read about above. At Rule Breakers, you get all the details on the companies that will change the world over the next 10 to 15 years…

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After all, you’ll be the first to know about tomorrow’s next great companies and have the rare chance to get these fortune makers into your portfolio before the masses catch on and drive prices out of reach.

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High-growth stock opportunities in every issue: Every issue of Motley Fool Rule Breakers features two picks from sectors like biotech, nanotech, next-generation technologies, and alternative energy. We’re not a fan of “sound bites.” Every stock we select comes with an in-depth company profile, product description, competitive analysis, risk analysis, and discussion of the company’s finances and sales prospects. Plus, you get your tough questions answered in the detailed Q&A.

Valuable insight and feedback from our Rule Breakers network: Got an investing question? Post it on the board. Odds are that another Rule Breaker or one of our analysts will have the answer you’re looking for. Every day you can talk with folks who are out there in the market, digging deep to find those next breakthrough investments that could hand you a lifetime of wealth.

In-depth CEO interviews available nowhere else: Over the years, David Gardner has sat down with the top CEOs and power players like Jeff Bezos… Meg Whitman… Mark Cuban… John Bogle… Terry Semel… and Howard Schultz. As part of the Rule Breakers family, you’ll have exclusive access to all the powerful moneymaking insights and timely profit opportunities they revealed to him.

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All returns as of December 18, 2009, unless otherwise stated.

Source: http://www.fool.com/newsletters/15/sfr/04/01.htm?source=erbrttemh0870001

http://www.webfactorybulgaria.com/en/

[Via http://koosjan.wordpress.com]

Facebook's Lite isn't just faster; it's the new Facebook design

2010-01-27T06:47:00.001+02:00

Facebook Lite claims to be horsepowers faster than the regular site. But regardless of the hundreds of kilobytes saved when browsing FB Lite, the design keeps changing; and getting better than “regular Facebook”.

First off, everything important to you is at the top, like a section with upcoming events you’re attending:

Event names are also SEO-friendly now, so you can find them in Google. Event pages themselves have been simplified quite a bit too:

While some parts of the Facebook Lite design are simpler, others are more complex, but not in a bad way. A normal comment like this on regular Facebook:

… now has much more detail on FB Lite:

They are finding ways to show more content with less code. And giving your social graph a chance to comment on it, right inline.

I started thinking to myself that FB Lite was a sandbox for Facebook designers to test the new layout once I saw this thick red border on the home page:

This is a technique front end web developers use called diagnostic styling.

Their auto-complete search box works 10x faster, and only shows the names:

They removed the Home tab all together. Now you click the Facebook logo to see your home feed:

The home page shows more detailed versions of the comments that people post on your content. Links, photos, all of it. Anything you “post”, that gets commented on, you’ll see it in your home feed.

Even something as simple as someone “liking” a note you wrote. FB Lite tries to give you a full preview:

The region on the page that usually houses advertisements is replaced by little quips and tips:

Chat has it’s own popup application now. I wonder if Friendfeed is developing it because it’s fast.

I think if Facebook converted their regular site to this design, no users would complain. What do you think?

If you want to make Facebook Lite your default experience, check out this article.

source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/weblife/?p=1317&tag=nl.e539

[Via http://febliza.wordpress.com]

Social Nets and Dunbar's Number

2010-01-27T06:47:00.000+02:00

Dunbar’s Number (Dn) is a theoretical “cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships”, according to this Wikipedia article about its originator; British anthropologist Robin Dunbar. He proposed that this limit was a function of neocortical size, i.e that the ability of a person to understand all of the complex relationships inherent in a community group was limited by the capacity of the neocortex to process the information.

Web 2.0 applications that promote social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are subject to the same social forces that govern our real life social interactions, so it’s reasonable to assume that Dunbar’s Number applies here as well.

The theory doesn’t propose a precise number, but it’s generally understood to be approximately 150 individuals. Looking at “followers” lists on the social nets and blogs that I inhabit (or keep occasional tabs on), it’s hard to imagine that a single individual could count each of the thousands of listed friends or followers as participants in a meaningful relationship. In Ashton Kucher’s twitterverse, for example, his aplusk twitter page currently lists 4,437,990 followers – but he’s only following 304. Smart guy – he’s keeping fairly close to the Dn limit.

Blogger Seth Godin suggests that this is the reason social groups or tribes that exceed the Dn limit split in two soon after hitting it. It also explains the regular emergence of sub-sects in religious groups where a group of disgruntled disciples separate from a parent group to form their own version of religious devotion.

Johnny Depp: Not Dead

2010-01-25T06:42:00.000+02:00

I always love how rumors get started on Web sites like Twitter.

Today, the rumor spread throughout the afternooon/evening that Johnny Depp had died in a car crash.

The story, just so you know, is not true.

From E! Online:

In yet another example of the Interweb gone terribly wrong, Johnny Depp was faux-killed in France after a car crash late Saturday, sending bloggers into a fact-finding tizzy, and fans tweeting “RIP Johnny Depp” right into a Twitter trending topic.

E! News has confirmed that Depp is alive and well, and was not involved in an accident of any kind.

“He isn’t dead,” Depp’s rep, Robin Baum, told E! News. “He’s fine.”

The Golden Globe winner has been linked to several death rumors in the past, the most recent elaborate hoax using images of a hodgepodge of wrecked vehicles, and even a fake CNN website confirming the news.

[Via http://kreuzer33.wordpress.com]

Mendaftar Facebook

2010-01-25T06:35:00.000+02:00

Hari gini belum punya facebook ? itu pertanyaan sekaligus ejekan beberapa teman saya sebelum saya daftar Facebook.

Hari gini belum punya facebook ? itu pertanyaan sekaligus ejekan beberapa teman saya sebelum saya daftar Facebook. Pertama kali sayapun jengkel dengan facebook, karena bagi pemula terasa sangat terasa ribet ketika meng-add orang. Untuk seorang pemula, facebook mewajibkan mengetikan huruf atau angka yang ditampilkan setiap kali meng-add orang lain.

Tetapi setelah beberapa lama atau sudah meng-add beberapa orang (mungkin sekitar 30) verifikasi untuk pengetikan tersebut akan hilang dan mulailah bisa merasakan asyiknya facebook dengan game dan aplikasi-aplikasi menarik yang disajikan dari facebook sendiri atau bahkan para penggunanya. Jadi kitapun dapat berpartisipasi dalam membuat sebuah aplikasi dalam facebook, menarik bukan?

Taukah Anda bahwa facebook bisa menampilkan artikel atau rss feed dari blog kita yang juga merupakan sarana publikasi blog kita, jadi apa salahnya kita coba dan mungkin aja menaikan sedikit traffic blog kita

Artikel ini saya buat karena beberapa pengunjung blog ini meminta artikel tersebut atau terkadang blog ini dapat kunjungan lewat google dengan keyword ” buat facebook ” atau ” daftar facebook ” padahal artikel tersebut tidak ada. Dan untuk menambah indeks di google ga ada salahnya saya buat kan artikel “cara buat facebook” ,”tutorial daftar facebook” atau mungkin bisa dibilang “tips daftar facebook”

1. Silakan Kunjungi www.facebook.com dan isi beberapa pertanyaan dibawah

2. kemudian Anda akan disuruh mengetikan gambar yang ada

3. Setelah itu facebook akan mengirimkan link verifikasi ke email yang anda daftarkan di facebook. Silakan buka email Anda dan klik link yang diberikan dari facebook.

4. Konfirmasi teman di facebook berdasarkan daftar email yang ada pada email Anda atau silakan di Skip this step

5. Jika Anda punya email yang lain silakan masukan, yang memungkinkan Anda menemukan teman difacebook atau silakan skip this step

6. Isi dengan smu, universitas dan tempat kerja. Tidak haru semua diisi atau silakan Skip this step

7. Facebook merekomendasikan beberapa orang yang mungkin Anda kenal dan bisa di add as friend atau silakan Skip this step

8. Silakan masukan kota tempat tinggal Anda

9. Silakan upload foto Anda

Selesai………..

[Via http://elloq.wordpress.com]

Rewind: A Look Back at January 21, 2010

2010-01-22T06:44:00.000+02:00

We share a lot of information each day! We are going to capture some of our favorites here each day and highlight our favorite interactions each day with the hope that you’ll find great new people on twitter to connect with.

Here are some of our favorite tweets from today.

Dave Keys | Facebook

2010-01-22T06:37:00.000+02:00

Dave Keys is on facebook. Of course there are a good number of people by my name on Facebook but, of course, none of them have the propensity to use SEO to claim a place on page one of Google for Dave Keys on Facebook.

I’ll take it.

Thanks to effective SEO techniques and web strategies, Dave Keys is first on Google for Facebook.

Dave Keys, SEO, web design and photography 2010.

[Via http://davekeys.wordpress.com]

Japan's version of Glee trailer; Web 2.0 Suicide Machine

2010-01-20T14:54:00.000+02:00

OMG I can’t believe that Japan’s going for the “Glee Craze”

Check this out!

Expect special guests. I hope they have Utada Hikaru or YUI as guests or main stays!

—————–

Do you want to remove everything YOU in Twitter and Facebook forever?

Introducing the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine!

Deletes every form of data you have on Twitter and Facebook in about an hour as compared to manual deletion which usually takes a lot more time than that.

Note: Only try it if you really want to start over.

[Via http://anima9.wordpress.com]

Retired From Man Hired By God!!!

2010-01-20T06:38:00.000+02:00

Have you ever asked yourself this question “What is my PURPOSE in LIFE? Many of us have that question. The sad part is many of don’t have a clue to what are purpose is. Well I ‘ve written a book with proven strageties on how to find out what your purpose is. This book will help you discover how God wants to use you and be represented through. You’ll never live life the same way again, once you pick this book up you can’t put it down. Get your copy today at www.ayannathomas.com .

Question what do you think you Purpose is? What motivates you to see it comes to pass?

[Via http://forgodonly.wordpress.com]

Help the Hatians!

2010-01-18T06:27:00.000+02:00

Everyone has heard by now about the devastating earthquake that rocked the nation of Haiti. I can’t help but feel heartbroken for all those people who lost loved ones and everything they had. My church was scheduled to go on a mission trip to Haiti next month, but because of the earthquake it is either postponed or cancelled; they’re still not sure if they’re going to be allowed in. I saw on Facebook that people are wearing red on the 19th to support Haiti. This is an easy way to show your support for the Hatians, especially if you’re not sure how to contribute otherwise. I’m not sure how many people this will reach, but I hope that whoever reads this will do something to help the people of Haiti, whether it’s donating time or money to the relief effort, or by wearing red tomorrow. All I ask is that you do something.

[Via http://vanillahills.wordpress.com]

H&M and Wal-Mart outrage the public for trashing winter clothing

2010-01-18T06:05:00.000+02:00

On January 5, 2010, Jim Dwyer from The New York Times broke an embarrassing story for clothing retailer H&M and superstore Wal-Mart. Dwyer was tipped by a New York City graduate student, Cynthia Magnus, that the two stores on 35th Street in NYC were destroying and discarding articles of clothing that for some reason could not be sold. Dozens of trash bags filled with ripped shirts and jackets were found, even though donating these items during an amazingly cold winter season seemed like an obviously better choice.

The public’s reaction to the story forced both stores to investigate and make necessary changes to its stores’ policies. H&M’s Facebook page, for instance, contained several comments from consumers who promised to boycott the store until it disposed of its unsold clothing in a more socially responsible way. Following Wal-Mart’s lead, H&M eventually promised to stop the practice and donate the items to charity.

The recent scandal for H&M and Wal-Mart came at a unique time – temperatures were at a record low. To see a few examples of the news stories that led the nightly news, watch the following videos:

Discussion Questions:

1. What harms could the scandal above have caused for Wal-Mart and H&M?

2. Was the response by both of the companies effective enough to repair their tarnished images? Why, or why not?

3. What could both companies do in the near future to continue to repair their image after this embarrassing news story?

[Via http://myprfeed.wordpress.com]

From Facebook MI to the Value of Product Management

2010-01-15T06:42:00.000+02:00

Every week I read thousands of blog posts. Here, for your weekend enjoyment, are some highlights from my recent reading, for you.

On Starting Up…

http://www.unionsquareventures.com/2010/01/we-need-an-independent-invention-defense-to-minimize-the-damage-of-aggressive-patent-trolls.php

In defense of independent invention (and against software patents).

On Design & Product Experience…

http://500hats.typepad.com/500blogs/2010/01/startups-vcs-eat-your-own-damn-dogfood.html

On the importance of your startup, and treating it right. Or, why you need a great product manager and designer more than anything / anyone else.

On Modular Innovation…

http://lifehacker.com/5446707/facebook-adds-comment-reply-by-email

Facebook’s latest Modular Innovation, ‘reply by email.’

Have a great weekend!

Jeremy Horn

The Product Guy

[Via http://tpgblog.com]

Facebook & Me

2010-01-15T06:21:00.000+02:00

I am addicted to Facebook. I check it every morning, in between flipping pancakes and shouting “Hurry up kids! Breakfast is getting cold!” I leave my husband to pour the orange juice and mutter that I just need to check the morning news. In actuality, I’m checking the morning, midday, just before I have to cook supper, and the evening news (hour-long edition).

I have played Bejeweled Blitz and Lexulous for HOURS (and like an addict, I have figured out how to turn off the notifications so that my husband doesn’t know that I am).

I like to collect friends like those trading pins at the Olympics and have been trying to crack the 200 mark for months. I like friending old boyfriends, so that they can peruse my photos (carefully edited, of course) and think that “they coulda had all THIS!” I like seeing what happened to the cool kids from high school and cannot believe who got fat and bald.

But I knew my little habit had become a full-fledged problem when I knew that “Sabrina has left the building”, “Jenny had too much lunch today!” and “Peter is going to SNAP!” before I had heard about Haiti’s earthquake.

Here’s to less snooping through the past and more living in the present! Here’s to Haitians everywhere, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Love Lucie

[Via http://lovelucie.com]

Tweet With Dakota DesignStaff

2010-01-13T14:31:00.000+02:00

We have recently joined the Twitter world and are looking for great organizations and design professionals to follow and be followed. Add DakotaDsgnStff to your follow list to be kept up to date with new positions, opportunities and AEC industry news. If you or your firm has a Twitter account let us know so we can follow you!

Setting up a Twitter account is easy and is a great way for design professionals to be seen and heard through the social networking world. If your firm would like assistance in setting up an account please contact Jeff Simeone at jsimeone@dakotadesignstaff.com. Setting up an account for your firm takes about 10 minutes of your time.

[Via http://dakotadesignstaff.wordpress.com]

we're covered in lies and that's okay

2010-01-13T06:22:00.000+02:00

You’re A God – Vertical Horizon

my story goes like this:

my grandparents had two kids, Dean and Debbie. when Debbie was 19 she got pregnant with me. i was born in july of ‘86 and i was a month premature. Debbie didn’t know she was pregnant until she started having contractions because 1) she was a bigger girl and didn’t gain all the much weight (i was 7lbs when i was born) and 2) she never stopped having her periods. anyways, when she was 20 and i was 10 months old, she died in a car accident. she’d been drinking, had dropped her friend off and was on her way home when she crashed, killing herself instantly. they think she was reaching down to get something she dropped. at that point, my grandparents adopted me and have been my parents my whole life.

i grew up with love all around me and with my real family. i have some of the best parents you could ask for and i’ve known this story for my whole life. my mom used to tell it to my grade school teachers when i started class. it’s not something i would really cry or get sad about, especially when i was younger. it’s always been apart of my life and always will be. it was harder to deal with/talk about when i got to college for some reason. its like the older i got, the more i missed Debbie.

during my junior year of college i took a shakespeare class with miss lorelle browning. she’s a beautiful soul. after class one day i somehow got into a coversation with her about my real mom and biological father. i ended up crying and realized that i’d never really examined my feelings towards my biological father.

here is what i knew about him prior to a few months ago:

-his name was john

-he was tall

-my mom met him at college

-he never wanted to see me

-he didn’t believe he was the father

-his mom came to see me in the hospital

i think i was angry (and maybe still am) and i felt like he wronged Debbie. i got a sense of that from my mom. after about the 3rd grade, i never really wanted to meet him. someday i wanted to see a picture of him because i was curious, and who wouldn’t be? and up until a few months ago this is all i ever knew or wanted to know about him. but one night in late september my mom and i decided to try and find a picture of him. after perusing many people finder sites and facebook, we found who we thought he might be as well as his mom—pat. so i sent off a facebook message to his mom asking her some questions to figure out if these were the right people (my mom apparently had a last name—thaggard). a few days went by and i was back up in portland looking for a job. then i received a reply message from pat and later that day we facebook chatted for hours and she told me tons of information about her and her family and john and apologized for his actions. when i make it back to montana, i would like to meet her.

john also contacted my family. but not me, and not my mom. he apparently looked for other family members of mine on facebook and contacted my aunt linda. she then called my mom and that set off an exchange of emails between my mom and john. these emails were hard for my mom because of the tone of john’s emails and some additional information we found out about. after and exchange of about 7 or so emails, my mom decided to no longer have contact with john because it was too difficult for her. at that time i didn’t want to speak with john just yet because i was in the middle of looking for a job and living out of suitcase in my boyfriend’s apartment and life was up in air. when i searched john and his mother out, i never expected a response and that was probably naïve of me. i probably wasn’t ready for a response. but that doesn’t matter now. not too long after the cease and desist between my mom and john, john made a facebook profile specifically for me. he put pictures up and in the little info part below your photo on the left it says: “LeAnna, I hope someday you will communicate with me.” his statuses on this profile have to do with me and a couple of them have been along the lines of “sitting around and waiting,” “a test of patience?,” etc. those kinds of statuses irked me, miffed me, ruffled my feathers. not really sure why. in my head, i understand that i contacted him, and that i said i talk to him when i was ready, and that i probably wasn’t ready in the amount of time he’d like me to be. i get that. but i was also trying to find a job, trying to find a place to live, switching jobs, moving in, getting settled in portland and talking with my biological father seemed too time consuming—both literally and emotionally.

i decided that once i was settled, i would reach out. that’s what i did last week. i worked on a message to send him and went through a few drafts. i mean, it’s a little weird to write: “Hello biological father, this is the daughter you’re not sure is yours and i’m just writing to say hi! let’s be friends!” i mean, come on. just applying the words father and daughter to my relationship with john feels VERY strange and not quite right to me. he’s still not sure he’s my father and wants a paternity test. which i’ll be ok with eventually. just not right now. i’d like to get to know him a bit before i go there.

i mean, what if we don’t click on any level at all and possibly don’t even like each other? would it still be worth it to try, to get the paternity test, to try and awkwardly fit into each other’s lives even if it’s in the smallest way? i feel like i opened a can of worms and don’t know what to do if it all goes wrong.

[Via http://belleringer.wordpress.com]

Analysis of Social Networking Service

2010-01-11T06:47:00.000+02:00

I started Facebook soon after I came to the United States on September 2008. Most of my friends told me that I needed to make an account of the Social Networking Service (SNS) to contact friends, to participate in events, and to share pictures. Although at first I hesitated to take part in Facebook for a while, I eventually followed their advice. At the time, I already had an account of mixi, which is a SNS in Japan. Since then, I compared and contrast them without conscious. As a total, mixi and Facebook have similarity each other, but some of their character is different. I read the article, which is “Mixi vs. Facebook,” and it compares and contrasts both of them, and concludes that mixi is a more successful site than Facebook.

The article focuses on systems of these two SNSs. It explains that mixi is diary-based, and it looks like blogs. Also, comments can be posted to most of its posters in mixi. Unlike mixi, Facebook is more focusing on uploading pictures. The unknow author said, “Facebook seems more public, whilst mixi is more private – I think this reflects the two cultures in that Japanese people in general are much more concerned about their privacy, about what is public, and what is private.” The point is interesting.

Although the article mentions technological characters of two networking services, the article is missing two aspects. One aspect is that Facebook is totally easier to make friends and to widen networks. In my own experience, I usually don’t hesitate to apply to friends online partly because I do not need to say anything. Only I have to do is to click “Add as friend.” On the contrary, when people apply to friends online, they have to say some kinds of greeting. That makes people more bothersome. Undoubtfully, one click is much easier. In fact, while I still have only 83 friends on mixi, I already have 122 friends on Facebook despite of that I have stayed in the United States for one and a half year. Another aspect is that some of participants of mixi do not use their actual name; on the other hand, people usually use their real name on Facebook. Therefore, Facebook users can search their friends much easier.

Overall, two SNSs, mixi and Facebook, have different points. As opposed to the assertion of the article, I would have to say that Facebook is more successful service as a SNS because the first purpose of SNS should be to broaden and widen relationship among people, and Facebook does its duty better than mixi.

[Via http://reporting1blog.wordpress.com]

Travel Trends - Just The Facts

2010-01-11T06:46:00.000+02:00

Just the facts – A great post from our often quoted friends at the Center for Media Research, facts you can use during your reports, speeches and water-cooler arguments during 2010. Ah, we love stats.

Mobile Phones

U.S. mobile phone users 13+: 223M
Number of mobile Web users: 60.7M (up 33% from 2008)
Percentage of mobile devices that are smartphones: 18% (up from 13% in 2008)
Percentage of mobile device owners that streamed audio: 8%
Percentage of mobile device owners that viewed video via their mobile phone: 7%
Percentage of mobile devices sold in Q3 2009 that were smartphones: 25% (estimated 40%-50 in 2010)

Source: The Nielsen Company, November 2009

Looking Ahead To Mid-2011

Estimated smartphone user base: 150M
Estimated mobile subscribers: 300M+
Estimated users of mobile web: 120M
Estimated users watching mobile video: 90M

Source: The Nielsen Company, November 2009

Growth of cellphone only homes in the U.S.

2009… 21%
2008… 18%
2007… 15%

Top 5 Smartphones (% Ownership)

Blackberry 8300 Curve: 17%
Apple iPhone 3G: 15%
Apple iPhone 3G S: 12%
Blackberry 9530 Storm: 6%
Blackberry 8100 Pearl: 5%

Source: The Nielsen Company, November 2009

Top 5 Mobile Web Sites

Google Search
Yahoo! Mail
Gmail
Weather Channel
Facebook

Top Social Networks on Mobile Phones

Facebook
MySpace
Twitter

Stealing your girlfriend's password to community sites (guide)

2010-01-08T06:22:00.000+02:00

For all those people who want to find out if your partner is cheating or the password to your partner’s facebook/myspace/e-mail/msn and other. Or if you are a parent worrying about what your kid might be doing at the computer behind closed doors.

Business going bad? Time to check up on your employees surfing habits. But how to do this, without getting caught trying to get some information?

Keep reading, I have the solution for all of you people.

I chose to introduce you to a keylogging/surveillance program after finally finding the tool that will give myself some answers to questions regarding my own relationship. I have searched for quite a long time and thought that there just aren’t any effective programs out there yet. But I found out that there is, it’s called All In One Keylogger, I gave it a try and I was honestly said frightened about the information it is able to collect, it will give you the answers to all your questions and suspiciousness.

The program fits for:

a) People in a relationship

b) Business administration, finding out what your employees do when they “work”

c) Parents who want to keep track of their kids.

From their homepage you can read about the futures of All In One Keylogger, as I find it a bit pointless to copy paste whole production info page. Don’t be scared off by the word keylogger, YOU are the master of the program, only you will ever have control of the logs, pictures and audio that it monitors. Below is a lot of information about the features and what the program does, I recommend to read it in order to get a idea about the program.

Product Website:

http://www.plimus.com/jsp/redirect.jsp?contractId=1682768&referrer=Niar

I chose to speak more about my personal experiences of the program instead of talking about all the futures, those can all be found by following the link above to the product site.

What does All In One Keylogger do?

All In One Keylogger logs all keystrokes and passwords that have been typed into crypted files on your computer, it tracks all windows and applications that have been launched, clipboard, chat conversations (sent and received), all Web sites that have been visited, e-mails sent and received.

You can set it to take screen snapshots every few seconds or on each mouse click, just like a surveillance camera. It can also record Microphone sounds and restrict the access to specified Web sites and applications if wanted. It can even be set up to send these logs to your e-mail or FTP for tracking when you are away!

Personally I hate it the times I get the feeling in my stomach that something might be going on when I’m away from my partner, this is the solution to get rid of the paranoia, or to get proof for your suspicions. It snaps up all usernames and passwords into the very easily readable log viewer supported in the All In One Keylogger program. And maybe even more importantly you can set it up to take screen snapshots every few seconds and view the pictures later. I chose to divide the potential usage areas into different categories, you might wonder what the All In One Keylogger could be good for, I’ll tell you.

Relationship:

In the survey that took place in United States in the year of 2005 which includes married couples only, 56% of the participants of the survey said that during their marriage they had at least one sexual encounter with a person that is not their spouse. Are you living in a relationship and suspect that your partner is cheating on you, or doing other stuff he/she shouldn’t be doing on your/her computer (flirting harshly on community sites, MSN messenger contacts, webcam usage, microphone usage or visiting sites that are uncomfortable in a relationship.. the list goes on.

This is where All In One Keylogger can be there to save you from wasting time on your relationship, you wonder what your partner does when he/she is on the computer and you are away or working night shift. Well there is no reason to keep wondering and being paranoid about what she might be doing, you can find it out directly by downloading the trial version straight away (it is amazingly easy to set up, and the best part is that it is totally undetectable/invisible in windows, so no one can find out it’s installed and running.. read more on product site for more detailed info).

It basically records all keystrokes, and shows in which program the text has been typed in, stores visited sites and you can set it up to take a picture of the screen for example every 10 seconds!

Employers:

In the survey that took place in Britain in the year 2006, 87% of the employees participating in the survey said that they surf on the internet during their work at least once a week. 73% of them said that they surf at least once a day. 23% of them said that they dedicate more time to surfing on the internet than to their work! In the additional survey that took place in the same year answered 36% of the employers, participants of the survey mentioned that they are afraid that secrets of the company will be sent to their competitors from the company computers by their employees. 4% announced that they fell victim to the theft of company secrets by their workers from the company computers.

Are you running a small sized company, and wonder why you aren’t getting as much work done as you should be getting. Well the solution is here, with All In One Keylogger you can make sure who are actually working and who are not. The result can be scary, you might find out that the employee is actually playing online poker half day or such, no wonder that the results aren’t so promising. There are a lot of people who don’t care as long as their getting paid, so they will just entertain themselves in some way instead of actually working.

Download trial (7 days free):

http://www.plimus.com/jsp/download_trial.jsp?contractId=1682768&referrer=Niar

Parents:

Today, almost every child has access to internet. This comes thanks to the advance in technology, but has also risks involved. Did you know that: The average age when the children encounter pornography in the internet is 11? The age of the largest pornography consumer group in the internet is between 12 to 17? 85% of children between the ages 6-16 encountered pornographic content intentionally or unintentionally (most of them while preparing their homework). 25% of children between ages 9-17 will freely disclose their home address in the internet? 60% of children who committed suicide, declared their intentions online directly or indirectly? One in five children who use the computer chat rooms has been approached over the internet by pedophiles? Only 25% of youth who received sexual solicitation told a parent.

The children today are very sophisticated and most of us parents don’t have the knowledge to know what they are doing behind their closed doors in front of the computer. Are they browsing to inappropriate websites, are they downloading illegal content using P2P programs that will in the future result in lawsuits of thousands of dollars? What personal information they disclose about themselves, are they talking to adults, or maybe they meet them?

All In One Keylogger has many features:

No activity on your computer will be able to evade this high quality Keylogger. Does your kid make secret chat conversations with adult strangers? Maybe even with a pedophile that searches for his next victim? Does he surf to pornographic sites? Maybe he even exposes his personal details where he is not supposed to? Does he use P2P programs, sharing copyrighted materials which could constitute a pretext to a lawsuit of tens thousands of dollars? Have you ever wondered why does your husband “work” on his computer so late at the night? Does he have a secret online lover?Have you ever wondered who is your wife’s “partner” she talks with all the time? Do your employees surf on the internet instead of doing their work which you pay them for? Do they sell company secretes to your competitors? A high quality Keylogger should give you the answers to all these questions. No activity will be able to evade from it. No undesirable activity will be able to evade from you! As said, a high quality Keylogger is an “All In One Keylogger”, so just press this link to download “All In One Keylogger”:

Download trial (7 days free):

http://www.plimus.com/jsp/download_trial.jsp?contractId=1682768&referrer=Niar

Link for buying full version:

https://www.plimus.com/jsp/buynow.jsp?contractId=1682768&referrer=Niar

I tried to bring up the most important things in this article, but there sure is more to read if you still aren’t sure, simply visit the links provided and read more about people who have bought the product or view the awards that the product has received. Everyone has different use or needs of the program, and it sure was a relief to my head after finally getting answer to my questions using this brilliant program.

[Via http://relytc.wordpress.com]

Remember that Facebook phishing email? There's a MySpace version, too.

2010-01-08T06:01:00.000+02:00

We all knew it was coming. Below is the full text:

From: Manager Stephan Goldman

To: [incorrect email address]

Date: Thursday, January 07, 2010 9:02:10 AM

Subject: MySpace Password Reset Confirmation!

Hey [incorrect username] ,

Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed.

You can find your new password in attached document.

Thanks,

Your MySpace.

Attached was a file called “MySpace_document_49792.zip” that recipients would be advised to not touch with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole. Whatever’s in that ZIP file, you don’t want it. Trust me on this.

Once again, social networking sites are never going to email you a new password, and in general aren’t going to email you files at all.

Who the heck is “Manager Stephan Goldman?”

Anyway, delete this garbage if you receive it, okay?

[Via http://fraudpreventionunit.org]

AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!! ANGER ANGER ANGER

2010-01-06T06:50:00.000+02:00

Ok I know I shouldn’t be angry but I JUST CAN’T HELP IT! Ok so I was on Facebook and I kept seeing this guy Logan Huffman. So I checked out his page. I was like ok we have three mutal friends that’s interesting. Then something told me that these mutal friends personally knew him. I went over to go check to see if his name would pop up on IMDB.com and guess freaking what… IT DID!

Ok so whats the problem you ask me? Well the fact that HE’S FROM MY HOMETOWN and he’s YOUNGER THAN ME TOO! AAAAGGGGHHHH (oh I forgot to mention he’s an actor) IDK why but this makes me extermely mad and angry!!!! I guess its cause I’m like “Why isn’t that me?” “Why am I not living my dreams?” “WHY DAMM IT WHY?” Seeing the fact that he’s a couple months younger than me, on a hit t.v. show and prolly graduate the same year (class of 08 baby!) I did from my hometown hits really really reeeeeeaaaallllly hard. Now I’m sad. (its this Coldplay music)

I just want to pack all my stuff and leave. Even though I have no money nor car how will I be able to get there? Hitchhike? NO way thats too dangerous… fun but how do I know I’ll even end up in Cali. I guess I just have to be patient and go with my original plan… which is to wait till July when I have enough save up, finished all my NYRs and have a car.

Man do you guys feel my pain? Has there ever been a time when you’re like “Man that should be me?”. If so I feel you. It will be our time soon. Who knows maybe when you finally get to your dream you’ll be so successful at it that the wait was well worth it. God please let that be me.

Well I’m done with my jealous rant until my next steps,

DreamChaser.

[Via http://dreamchaser89.wordpress.com]

Your friendeds are not my friendeds.

2010-01-06T06:35:00.000+02:00

Once again, if you haven’t read William Deresiewicz’ article “Faux Friendship,” I highly recommend it.

I recall my first year of grad school being crazy enough without the complications of electronic social networking. As if I didn’t have enough reasons to feel old in my early twenties, on my first day I had a student abbreviate a discussion with me into another language (“Hey. Can we convo? LOL. Sorry, I like to abbrev.”), and soon after I felt the outward pressure of dealing with virtual friends—hereafter referred to as “friendeds.” After much prodding from my peers, I finally opted to give Facebook a shot, but only if I could assure that I could have all the privacy I wanted, and more. I resolved to only “friend” people that I had actual face-to-face interactions with, but my interactions on Facebook were limited until I discovered my personal Holy Grail: ultra-paranoid privacy settings. Thanks to the setting which removed my searchability on Facebook, I was free to happily enjoy all Facebook had to offer from the confines of my virtual cloaking device.

As the years have gone by, however, the ever-widening user base has had some undesirable results. While Facebook features (Facebook chat, applications, video, etc.) have consistently expanded, I’ve always had my private little wall that prevented “that one creepy guy from the coffee shop who I really never want to talk to” or “that obnoxious girl from my sophomore physics class,” or “my high school graduating class” from attempting to “friend” me. Sure, you can always ignore the friend requests, but can’t they just not know I’m there? Regardless, I’m proud to say that I’m still app-fee and I have resisted the urge to upload video or engage in real-time chat. I also was completely invisible to all but those I actually wanted to communicate with. What’s nice, is that I have had that choice.

You can run, but you can't hide. At least not anymore.

As of December 10th, I can still opt out of search results, but I have no means to opt out of being “friended” by “friends of friends” if they happen to see my picture or name in a group or wall post. “But they’re your friends’ friends,” Facebook says. “Why wouldn’t you want them to be your friend?” Well, if you’ve got one Facebook acquaintance that’s “friended” all of Northwest Ohio—and we all have got at least one who has—then that opens you up to all of Northwest Ohio as a “friend of a friend.” My real friends’ friends are not mine, so why on Earth would the Grand High Facebook council assume that I want to have the friendeds of my friendeds be able to see me? Facebook friendeds of friendeds are exponentially further away from being actual friends. Sure, there might be some that are, but does that make it worth opening me up to all of the friends of a guy a met once at a conference in New York?

The painful truth is that social networks like Facebook and MySpace have the power to dictate social privacy trends. What makes Facebook different from myspace is its respect of privacy, which has steadily eroded with every new app. Every “feature” which enables users to share more establishes a new trend which eventually becomes a standard. Not only do these new features presuppose that people want to share as much as possible, they actually encourage people to make public things that they would have never considered to display in the past. As much as I hypocritically condemn the self-important web 2.0, whether or not you want to share pictures of yourself doing a keg-stand in a unitard isn’t my business. However, you make it my business by giving all of them access to me.

I notice that every time I type “friend,” it means less and less until the word is almost meaningless. I wonder if having 1,283 “friends” on Facebook has the same effect on actual friendship?

“This information is name, profile picture, gender, current city, networks, friend list, and Pages. The overwhelming majority of people who use Facebook already make most or all of this information available to everyone. We’ve found that most people who do limit access just want to avoid being found in searches or prevent contact from strangers.”

-Facebook Blog

[Via http://juliosus.com]

Fraudulent Facebook email contains malware attachment.

2010-01-04T06:01:00.000+02:00

There’s a new fake email message making its way around the web the last few months. This time, it targets Facebook users.

The messages all have something to do with your Facebook password, using subject lines such as “Password Reset Confirmation Email.” They contain an attachment that is supposed to be your new password, but is actually a pretty nasty Trojan horse program that opens your computer up to a variety of attacks. One of these programs is known as Bredolab, and it’s just bad news all around. Below is the text of an example message from “The Facebook Team:”

Hey,

Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients your password has been changed. You can find your new password in attached document.

Thanks

The Facebook Team

There are other fake Facebook messages that try to lure victims with a “New Login System” message and contain a disguised link. In this case, it seems to be a pretty standard password-stealing attempt, but given the amount of malware that can be spread and the fraud that can be committed with a hacked Facebook account, it could lead to much worse problems than someone just messing with your Facebook page.

Facebook is never going to send you an email message with your password as an attachment. In fact, they’re never going to send you an attachment at all. If you get one of these messages, hold your cursor over the link (DO NOT CLICK) and you’ll see that the message actually takes you to a non-Facebook website (most likely hosted overseas).

Furthermore, Facebook isn’t going to “confirm” your request for a password reset unless you’ve actually requested it, and any links contained in these messages will be hosted at Facebook.com, not a website with just an IP address (numbers separated by periods, as in ”123.45.678.90″), and not a website hosted overseas.

Once again, a new threat just goes to reinforce the old rules of thumb: never open an attachment in an email message you weren’t expecting, and never click on links in an unsolicited email message without verifying first that the message is legitimate.

What is the deal with Facebook and Twitter lately? It seems like they’ve both been targets of an awful lot of phishing, fraud and malware activity these past few months.

Both sites have astounding numbers of users—I recently heard that if Facebook was a country, it would be the fourth most populous in the world, just behind the U.S.—so I imagine it has to do with the sheer numbers involved. When you’ve got over 300 million potential victims, even a 0.1% success rate (1 in 1,000) is a pretty large number of people.

[Via http://fraudpreventionunit.org]

Passion and Drama and All That Soap Opera Nonsense

2010-01-04T05:58:00.000+02:00

I don’t get it, to be honest, but it’s here, and it’s happening, and I guess I have to deal with it now.

It started off as a decision. And I should have heeded the warnings. But, no, I didn’t, and now I’m stuck dealing with something I shouldn’t have to. It should have been resolved a while ago, and if I had done what my gut was telling me, I wouldn’t be in this predicament right now. But… ta da?

I’ve done it over the phone. Over text. Over Facebook message. No, it’s not what you think it is. Gutter brain, get off my blog. It’s an argument, something very real that I’ll have to deal with tomorrow.

As a leader, I guess you have several things you have to deal with.

Stability. You can’t say one thing and then say another.
Balance. You have to keep your cool.
Firmness. You have to agree fully with everything you’re saying, even if it’s 2AM and you’re seeing llamas outside your window.

Some people don’t quite get that, and I don’t see why they should lead. I’ve been a follower in the past, and I know what I like and don’t like from a leader. They’re the same things that make an argument (discussion, debate, etc.) win. If you look like you aren’t at your wit’s end with something, you’ll be fine with it. Right?

I have a feeling what I’m doing tomorrow will work. I’m still unsure, though, about how I’m going to present it. Carefully, check. But I get kind of passionate about arguments. And with two coming at me right in the face tomorrow, what am I supposed to do?

Let’s take it as it comes, I guess. It’s better than worrying about it now.

[Via http://swanktown.wordpress.com]

Happy New Year! Parties Everywhere! See Video & News from 2010 Welcoming!

2010-01-01T06:37:00.000+02:00

Dick Clark Countsdown… did he skip 13?

JUSTIN BIEBER Performs for New Year!

[yotuube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9zlXZj8LSw]

New Year’s Day — History, Traditions, and Customs

NEW YEARS NEWS ARTICLES:

How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolution Without Feeling Tortured Huffington Post (blog)
In pictures: New Year celebrations BBC News
Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball, a timeline CNET News
Crowds cheer New Year as revelers welcome 2010 in Times Square New York Daily News
Travis Pastrana New Year’s Eve 2009: Accomplishes World Record Jump Zimbio
Obama’s New Year’s Eve Wishes (VIDEO) - The Huffington Post | Full News Feed - 5 hours ago

[Via http://twittertrends.wordpress.com]

Rochester businesses: Online social media had a big year

2010-01-01T06:20:00.000+02:00

Online social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter really went to work in 2009.

Previously the domain of college kids, geeks and garage bands, social networking caught the interest of businesses last year. That trend is only heating up for 2010.

One Rochester company, MLT Group Advertising & Marketing, is adding social media planning to its menu of print, video and Web design services as the calendar flips into a new decade.

“These days when people out there are looking for a product or service, their first stop is the Web,” says MLT Founder Mike Pruett.

And businesses are starting to notice. According to the “2010 Marketing Trends Survey” by StrongMail, businesses surveyed cited e-mail marketing, social media, and search engine optimization as their top three priorities for the coming year.

Pruett pointed out Pepsi-Cola recently announced its decision to forgo its usually multi-million dollar TV commercial slots during this year’s Super Bowl and use part of that money for online marketing.

“The larger companies are starting to get it,” he says.

But is social media really something that a small business in Rochester or Byron needs to have to be in the game?

“If you are a business that sells directly to consumers, probably. If your target market, extends beyond the local area, definitely,” says Alan DeKeyrel, owner of Corporate Web Services, Inc. “If you sell to businesses and stay mainly in a small area, it might not be a big help. However, it can’t hurt to be there.”

DeKeyrel, a long-time technology expert, started marketing himself in 2009 as someone who can speak to business groups about social media trends. As such, he has a speaking engagement in Salt Lake City, Utah in early 2010.

While setting up a Twitter or a Facebook account is free and relatively simple, Pruett of MLT says it is what a business does with those accounts that really matters.

“A lot of people can teach you about social media; what we do is help you develop it and actually walk you through it every step of the way,” he said.

It is another path to reach potential customers, especially young people, says DeKeyrel.

“These days they are a lot smarter than in past. They don’t want to be sold to,” he said.

Pruett agrees, but stresses that he believes companies need to have a variety of ways to reach their markets to be successful.

“Is it going to replace TV, radio and newspapers? No. It is not the magic bullet. It’s another tool,” he said.

By Jeff Kiger

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

[Via http://mindmapsza.wordpress.com]

Why are we doing this?

2009-12-30T06:32:00.000+02:00

Taking photos, making videos, editing, writing, updating this blog, our Facebook page, and posting tweets is a lot of work. And on top of that, we’re also on the road.

So why are we doing this and trying to get attention?

Because we are doing our little bit to increase awareness on climate change and the need for everyone to take action now. We cannot understand why people worry about stock markets, house prices, and even unemployment rates, when we might not have a world!!! What if there is no drinking water tomorrow …. or you are washed away by the sea rising ….. or your children have no future ….?

This is a difficult topic to talk about because we care deeply and it’s an emotive area for us.

350.org say it better.

They were one of the organizations at Copenhagen making sure the voices of ordinary people got heard. Their website is full of information, scientific findings, people’s efforts and photos of events all around the world. Their name is related to the level of CO2 …. “350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere” … http://www.350.org/about/science

And they ask and answer such questions as:

What is global warming and what’s the problem anyway?

What does this 350 number mean?

If we’re already past 350, are we all doomed?

How do we create the political change to steer towards 350?

How do we get the world on track to get to 350?

How do we actually reduce carbon emissions to get to 350??

We hope you’ll take a look at their website and then decide on what action you can take.

[Via http://yeswecanjourney.wordpress.com]

"Men and women can't be friends."

2009-12-30T06:18:00.000+02:00

I re-watched When Harry Met Sally yesterday and was reminded of the above quote. And as with every time I watch it, I wondered if it was true.

Conclusion: it’s true. Men and women can’t be friends.

I researched it a little more in depth this time. My method? I went through my facebook friend list and looked at all the guys I have on there. Interestingly enough, I realized that about 75% of my facebook friends are girls. Then I weeded out most of the other guys too, because they were either family, gay, married (there’s some history with a couple of the married ones, but that’s for another day), or mere acquaintances (you know, people I met once at a party or haven’t seen since high school). I could try to factor all of these people in too, but to keep things simple, I went through the guys I would actually consider good friends. It’s down to six guys, and here they are:

1. Mr. History: As his nickname implies, we’ve got a lot of rather complicated history. And I’ve been hung up on him in an unrequited way for a good ten years. Yes, I consider him a dear friend, but no, it’s definitely not a simple, baggage-free friendship.

2. Mr. Entertainment: As we live in completely different locales, we basically communicate strictly via facebook. However, we have a great connection with it comes to stuff like TV and movies, and it’s tough to find people who have similar tastes to me. I’ve got a small crush on him, strictly for that reason. While we could probably be friends pretty easily if we lived in the same place, I’m pretty sure my crush would grow pretty easily too.

3. Mr. Doctor: I completely dig this guy. Indeed, he’s a doctor and very accomplished, smart, funny, amazing, etc. The attraction’s totally from my side only. I’m pretty sure he has a crush on another good friend of ours who doesn’t see him that way (just more evidence that men and women can’t be friends).

4. The Engineer: I am still a little heartbroken over this guy. He was single when I first met him and we connected really well when it came to humor, faith, and general interests. While we did stay friends, I watched him start dating someone else, get engaged, and get married. So he technically falls in the “married” category now, but it is a good illustration regardless.

5. Mr. Platonic: Obviously. While I would prefer things to be plantonic, his thoughts are completely different.

6. Mr. Unnamed: Again. Obvious issues from my perspective.

So there you have it. In my experience, men and women can’t be friends. You probably noticed that some of the guys I’ve written about here aren’t even on my list. And that is even more evidence, because we’re not even friends enough at this point to even be facebook friends.

And with that, you should know that this is probably the last time you’ll hear from me in 2009, so I’ll be back with more stories in 2010! Are there any stories or people or situations I’ve referenced that you want to know more about? Just ask; I’ll write!

[Via http://waitingforbutterflies.wordpress.com]

The right time

2009-12-28T06:34:00.000+02:00

When we come to make a life changing decision, how many times have we used “it’s not the right time”, or “I want to wait until the right moment comes” as an excuse to postpone or even give up our action? Seemingly, time is convenience to use

But when is the right time? Even more interesting is, when the ‘right’ time comes, will you be able to spot it, and act on it immediately? Or you are not prepared enough to act fast so the ‘right’ time slips and you say,”I will wait for the right time” again..and again…

When is it gonna end?

Also, I can’t help but wonder, does the ‘right’ time ever exist?

Answer me, when is the right time to quit your job/to get married/to have baby/to fire redundant employees/to start healthy diet/to start exercising…etc etc? WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME!?

Just take the “to have baby” as example

Normally a recent married couple would WAIT for at least a year, for the purpose of enjoying life and time with another half. After 1 year, they would start to PLAN to have baby. They calculate and calculate and finally workout a financial statement forecast to see how much money they need to raise a baby. They then decide to use (let say) 3 years to earn $4m (which they think they need)…but what will happen during these 3 years? Husband might lose his job/wife gets promoted/they lose all their saving in financial crisis/someone in the family is sick/realise $4m is not enough but $5m instead….every incident would push their curve of saving upward and downward, besides, what about inflation, price increase in food, education, house (if you can predict those, you would be a billionnaire so I dont think you need to PLAN anyway) or even living necessity? How many elements do you put into the scenario study/testing when you are making the forecast?

Let’s not forget also the personal maturity is also a factor to be considered

So when is the right time for this couple to have baby?

Allow me to say this, it’s never the right time

We tend to do a risk evaluation, calculating what would we lose if we make this move or take this step? How about what to lose if we DO NOT make this move or take this step? What would we lose if we STAND STILL and being indecisive when we are facing a problem? I don’t know how to quantify the lost but at least, apart from anything else, you lose time

A successful person might not be the most intelligent, the most innovative, the most entrepreneurial and any quality that you can think of….but he certainly has to be the type: someone who will act on whatever he sees, listens and believes in

Take the action now, for all sakes in the world. Don’t not regret on something you haven’t done, experience and feel what you have done

A little to share after start reading the 4-hour workweek by Timothy Ferriss, very inspiring

[Via http://christyli.wordpress.com]

2009- THE YEAR OF SOCIAL NETWORKING

2009-12-28T06:29:00.000+02:00

Social Networking has been at a very high demand this year. Major social networking websites like Facebook & Twitter has attracted millions of users at a very regular basis. Whether they could be used for only building social contacts, or for the commercial purposes, the social networking has become a very important part of the people’s lives.

Ranging highly from schooling kids to the teenagers in college to the adults working or at home, extending to the elderly people; social networking has been the most preferred mode of communication for the people.

Not just for the social purposes, but also for the commercial purposes- the social networks have been a very important part of the people’s lives now. Social networks have helped many companies in boosting their business to a very higher extent, which has taken back the negative effectives of the recession to a very greater extent.

People are finding different ways in which the social networks can help out more in contributing more to the business taking down further the effects of the recession. Starting from the small businesses to the larger ones, all are initiating to expand their business lines with the help of the social networks, among which, Facebook and Twitter are most preferred ones.

Social Networking is the best way in which people can communicate about their business to the people at large, which also proves to be the best strategy whether it could be any business. 2009 has indeed been the year of social networking, which has seen the highest usage of the social networks for all purposes.

[Via http://expertsfromindia.wordpress.com]

Melihat Teman yang Online di Facebook dalam keadaan Offline

2009-12-25T06:37:00.000+02:00

biasanya banyak orang yg waktu lagi pesbukan kaga mau diganggu sama chatting…tapi walaupun kita bikin chattingan kita dalam keadaan offline,,ternyata kita tetap masih bisa melihat sapa ajah teman kita yang lagi online…

1.Rubah kolom chattingan anda menjadi offline

2.Lalu klik ikon Aplikasi yang ada di pojok kiri bawah

3. Cari aplikasi dengan mengetikkan Appear Offline

4. Setelah masuk, silahkan ikuti petunjuk selanjutnya. Disana terdapat kategori Online Now (untuk melihat siapa yang online, avtive friend dan idle friend), Bookmarks (untuk membuat daftar teman-teman favorit), Friend’s Bdays! (untuk melihat semua daftar ulang tahun teman anda) dan Help.

5. Untuk lebih mempermudah akses anda menggunakan aplikasi appear offline, tambahkan ke menu navigasi bar anda sebelah kiri bawah halaman anda

So, dengan aplikasi ini kita gak perlu OL dulu untuk ngeliat siapa ajah temen kita yang lagi OL……

[Via http://bungalucy.wordpress.com]

Web 2.0: Biggest Distraction of 2010.

2009-12-25T06:13:00.000+02:00

Interested in Facebook, Twitter, Texting, etc.? This is for you.

Web 2.0: in short is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing.

If it’s going to be a distraction in 2010 it might as well be considered a distraction from here on… Wouldn’t you agree?’

For those of you know don’t know “Web 2.0″ is the internet from 2004- onwords (Web 1.0 1991-2003). It’s fact that during Web 2.0 the way we’ve communicate has changed. From Twitter to Facebook. New search engines created to find information thats just been posted within seconds. Real time results.

If you have a Twitter account and follow a few people by the your done reading this sentence you probably have a few Twitter updates to catch upto.

Cell phones became popular in the Web 1.0 ‘era.’ Texting was also introduced during this time. However as time went by it became more attractive amongst the greater population, not just in America but worldwide.

In China even with all the sites banned (like Twitter) there are sites that are Chinese versions that are amerging. And guess what? 90% of the Chinese population is involved with ’social networking’. Compared to 73% of Americans.

Cell phone providers are coming up with applications just for social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. Myspace was popular in the early Web 2.0 days however not so much anymore.

There was a minor earthquake a couple months ago that shook majority of Punjab in Pakistan, parts of India, and Afghanistan. I was chatting with a cousin as it happened. The moment it occured I logged onto Twitter within seconds and there were people in Pakistan posting tweets about what just happened.

Businesses are also trying to spread there existance into social media. The law firm I work for hired me to maintain there Facebook pages, Twitter account, Blog, aswell as maintaining PPC campaigns and taking care of search engine optimization for there online community launching in January 2010.

Blogging has become a great source of sharing information and serving to many around the country and around the world as a sort of online diary. You don’t need to spare $10 for a URL + a hosting plan to have an online existance anymore. With free blogging sites like Blogspot and WordPress within a few seconds you can have your own blog.

Companies are embracing the fact that people want to rely more on digital technology. Before Wifi was limited to before an airplane would take off and after it lands. Virgin America, American, Delta, United, aswell as other major airlines have ensured that skies are no longer digitally disconnected. McDonalds is set to introduce Free Wifi in it’s American restaurants in January (right now it charges about $2.99 per 2 hours.)

There have been many Blackberry outages these days delaying emails which have people freaked. Twitter was down for a couple hours and that really annoyed people. The “Iranian Cyber Army” hijacked managed to temporarily hijack the website to try to prove a pointless point.

It’s almost like.. If Facebook goes down for a little bit because of excessive use or an error at the office or computers are down, or theres a problem over with Gmail, or if Twitter is hijacked.. Several million peoples lives are on ‘hold’.

[Via http://therandomguy.wordpress.com]

Detroit-Based Hip-Hop Website Uses Facebook and Twitter Marketing Prior to Launch

2009-12-23T06:32:00.000+02:00

An extensive background in marketing led Marcel Friday, founder of the Detroit-based hip-hop website WhutUpDoe.com, to reach hip-hop fans all over the country prior to the site’s December 25th launch date. Through Facebook and Twitter, Friday build an avid following, engaging fans by probing them on their favorite local unsigned artists and their goals for the new year. Once again, social networking sites provides an efficient promoting platform for the hip-hop entrepreneur. We’re starting to wonder how marketing existed without them.

http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/14176-1260480967-marcel-friday-founder-of-hiphop-website-announces-official-launch-of-whutupdoecom-set-for-christmas-day.html

[Via http://bumagonline.wordpress.com]

Social Networking Febrile

2009-12-23T06:11:00.000+02:00

Scene 1:

Hey, where is our old school pal, Saif Ali?

You don’t know? Just go to my orkut profile and see my friends list. You can catch him there. Btw he had got a fever of 100 degree Celsius last night.

Oh, did he scrapped you about it?

No idiot, he tweeted.

Scene 2:

What are you doing in your mobile?

Nothing, I am just checking out my mails.

Got any new mails?

Yeah, I got one invitation to join hi5, one for linkedIN, one for ibibo, two from Indyarocks, three new followers on twitter and an email telling me that my brother recently commented on my facebook status.

And the status will be?

That I am checking my mails through my N75.

Pause.

The above scenes sound very acquainted, don’t they? Now-a-days, everybody has signed up for multiple social sites. And the users include school children, college crowd, undergraduates, post graduates, the employed and even the unemployed. The wide spectrum consists of common people, Radio jockeys, sex workers, film industry, aspiring models, ministers, writers, etc.

Should one go for these social sites? The answer is unanimously, a YES. But the point worth considering is which ones to join because the online market offers you a variety of choices parallel to the cellular industry. You do have all the options open to you, but you have to go for the one suiting your needs. Of course you can sign up all of these networks, but be pragmatic how can one be present at all of his/her social dwellings?

Think about a situation in which your twitter account reads “Had the most horrible experience of my life” and your facebook account reads “Had a date with my girlfriend today”. Now, if luckily or unluckily, the girl whose referred in here happens to be a twitter addict you can imagine what would happen next. No points for guessing.This girl would change her relationship status from committed to single, in her profile on orkut. The following points can be the ones worth pondering before going for such social world.

*See the site where the majority of your friends are engaged.

*Just check about the privacy you want. Are you okay with the open display of your communications with your friends (most common on www.orkut.com) , or you don’t want any of the chatting message to be read by anyone, or you just want to keep all of your buddies updated what are you doing in a very short and fast way. The list also gives you the options of doing social networking along with Bollywood buzzes like wallpapers news (www.indyarocks.com) etc.

*The amount of time you devote in worshiping internet. If you just want to share and go use twitter. You want more go for orkut, hi5, ibibo, linkedIN, etc.. You can play the psychological games like IQ test and also you can go for answering some questions to get answers to the crazy questions like “In which year will you die”, “What type of kisser are you”, “When/where will you meet your soulmate”, and all type of attractive questions. Thus it avoids paying to the chiromancer to get such answers. For more such questions go to www.facebook.com

Being on the online network is not only a must now-a-days but also a status symbol. People not found there are treated as villagers. But signing up isn’t enough. You have to be regular there and also try to give your profile a cool look. Comment on your friends’ photos, their status, retweet them, follow them and after all this homework buzzing about it in the school is the classwork.

So, for all of you who are not yet on any of these online homes, join fast. And for those who are living in the online world you can follow me on www.twitter.com/urs_sarthak

[Via http://sarthak4you.wordpress.com]

Can Social Media Give You an Overinflated Ego?

2009-12-21T06:49:00.000+02:00

Lately, I have been spending some time thinking about how people react to social media fame. What happens when you reach 1,000 Twitter followers? 2,000? 5,000? How do you react when your blog is suddenly getting significant traffic and people are hanging on your every word? Some people can take it in stride without letting it go to their heads while other people end up with enormous overinflated egos.

Compare this to the reaction to fame that professional athletes, actors, musicians and celebrity CEOs face. Some people completely change (new house, new cars, new friends, new spouse, etc.) while others continue to live in their old neighborhood with existing friends, and remain grounded despite their fame. While social media fame isn’t the same, I see similar reactions.

I was reading an article where someone was talking about egos in sports and applying the same ideas to business. He mentioned this quote: “It’s okay if other people think you’re God, but you’re in trouble if you start believing it.”

For some people, it may already be too late. For those of you who can still be saved, here are a few tips for keeping that ego in check :

Remember that your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn friends or fans are not your real friends .Real friends are the people that stick with you during tough times.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. When people butter you up with praise and tell you how awesome you are, politely thank them, but don’t believe it.
Everyone has shortcomings — I certainly have my share. Whenever your ego starts to take over, think about something that you need to improve and remember that you are an ordinary human being who makes mistakes and has weaknesses.

What are your thoughts on how social media fame gives people inflated egos?

[Via http://shesthegeek.wordpress.com]

Starfleet Commander

2009-12-21T06:46:00.000+02:00

Back in the early days of my blog I wrote about Glamour Age. I was not impressed. It followed the lines of most Facebook days back in the day: a webpage that had to refresh every time, and doing the same thing over and over and over. With the emergence of Flash into Facebook games have started changing for the better. The -ville games all have a bit of fun to offer, weather it’s putting together a farm, or making a zoo. But the game that truly caught my attention was one that appealed to my inner geek: Starfleet Commander.

At it’s core Starfleet Commander is a simple game. Like most other Facebook apps it has missions. You get things by going on missions, which let you do other things further down the road. The game goes deeper than that though, deeper than any of the old Facebook games. In addition to missions you get to build things. Ore Mines, Crystal Mines, Hydrogen Synthesizers, etc. Each building produces different resources which you need to build more buildings, and eventually to produce ships and defenses. But the game goes farther still, in addition to buildings you get to research things, and put together defenses. The game also has a good rating system, so you always know where you stand in your Galaxy. Add the fact that you can invite friends (like any Facebook app) and make alliances, and you have a Facebook game with a suprising amount of detail.

The next major improvement that Starfleet Commander adds is the timing system. In old games you had a set amount of energy, and at the end of it you were done. The end. Come back tomorrow. Starfleet Commander has timed missions. Sending a ship out for some ore takes about two minutes to accomplish, and about a minute for your ship to come back home. Once it’s back you can send it out again. As much as you want. You will never see a bar that says “you are out of energy.”

It’s not all roses though. The game still requires that you have friends before you can go out and do anything truly interesting, and the missions have you doing the same thing over and over. It’s the feel of the missions that really gets to me though. This is a game that has the name “Starfleet” in it. You know, the people with the prime directive, and the ones that won’t attack enemy ships unless pressed, even when they are in the Delta Quadrant? Why is it then that out of two of the first three missions I get, I’m going on raids? Instead of Starfleet I feel like I’m playing the Maquis or the Romulans. It definitely doesn’t leave me feeling like one of the good guys.

As far as Facebook games go I give the game four out of five stars. In real game rankings maybe a two out of five. It is fun for a free game, and if you insist on wasting time on Facebook apps like I seem to, than it is a good use of your time.

[Via http://alexisofroses.wordpress.com]

TOP BULGARIA POLITICAL LEADERS TANGLED IN 'HOMOSEXUAL' SCANDAL

2009-12-18T06:48:00.000+02:00

A scandal erupted in the Bulgarian Parliament Thursday after nationalist Ataka party leader Volen Siderov accused Conservative Order, Law and Justice (RZS) leader, Yane Yanev, of hiding his “homosexual relationships”.

Siderov made his claims in front of the European and US ambassadors who were attending the plenary session. He said: “homosexual addiction, which is an open secret about Yane Yanev, that is the case….We see some hysterical actions by a boy (Yanev) who acts according to his homosexual and other dependencies.”

Siderov added that former secret service agent Alexey Petrov is pulling Yanev’s strings and that they are providing money to businessmen to split up the Ataka party and to stop its support for the ruling GERB government.

Yanev replied by saying that Siderov was inferior and that he has always been been and will remain heterosexual. He added that Siderov had shamed himself in the eyes of Europe and the World.

Parliament Speaker, Tsetska Tsacheva, said that the case will be referred to the Committee on Parliamentary Ethics Committee. She stressed that such statements undermine the image of parliament and was clear that such behavior will not be tolerated.

[Via http://koosjan.wordpress.com]

Social Media: New Year's Eve Style

2009-12-18T06:42:00.000+02:00

Well, at least they’re on it. However, there is no way on this Earth that you’ll catch me in Times Square this New Year’s Eve. It’s already insanely cold out there. That’s the beauty of social media! I don’t have to be there

If you will be there, bring your iPhone!

The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment aren’t dropping the ball when it comes to incorporating social media into the upcoming New Year’s Eve celebration, as they will offer a six-and-a-half-hour Webcast via TimesSquareNYC.org, Livestream.com/2010, or Facebook.com/TimesSquareNYC, as well as on a special site for iPhone users, The New York Times‘ Gadgetwise reports.

The Webcast will follow five separate story lines and cover the international participants, the history of Times Square through photos, the story behind the bloggers and other information, and viewers will be able to post photos and comment via Twitter and Facebook, according to Gadgetwise.

[Via http://organicsocialmedia.wordpress.com]

Lifestream

2009-12-16T06:39:00.000+02:00

My latest goofing around online is on AIM Lifestream. Yep, you read right. There is a very simple explanation – privacy.

Tweeter is simply just noise right now. I absolutely detest their new retweet (RT) feature. It’s annoying and I definitely don’t want my stream filled with tweets of people I don’t follow – it was tolerable before but now the retweets appear as a tweet from the original source. In other words, your entire stream may be filled with tweets of people you don’t follow. Then there is the List. Really, who has the time to go through all that? I got on Twitter to learn from people I admire, engage in conversations with peers and friends, not to be bombarded with broadcasts and advertisements. The only time I now use Twitter is to ping someone or people to ping me. Visit a wet market (similar to farmers’ market in the US) in Singapore and you’ll know what I mean when I compare Twitter to it. Twitter is now a BIG global fish market.

Facebook, on the other hand, is jambalaya. They have no clear business model – it keeps changing not based on their or user needs, mind you, but based on their competitors – Twitter, Buddypress and the like. Simply idiotic. And then suddenly what you thought you privately shared on Facebook is no longer private but very much public. I’ve lost track of their idiocy. Then you have to deal with accepting or rejecting “friend” request from people you know – but don’t want to know too much about – as well as from strangers – which is fine as long as they aren’t weirdos or axe killers. With their new changes, your stream is again filled with comments, photos, infos of “friends of friends” you absolutely care nothing about and simply don’t want them on your stream. Yes, I’ve very little tolerance for incompetents and foul-mouthed individuals – deceitful at work as competent because of their excellent a$$ kissing abilities while others are simply B. It’s a free world and people may choose how they lead their lives or how devoid of decent human beings they wish to be. But surely, I should have the choice to decide who I can eliminate from my stream as well? That’s not asking too much, is it?

Comparatively, AIM Lifestream gives me the option to be very selective in sharing my thoughts, photos, live chats with and who may comment on those. Having said that, it’s yet to be seen how soon I’ll be bored with it or how fast AIM will change their features. But, I’ll enjoy the service while it lasts.

I’m quite done Lifestreaming tonight….for now.

[Via http://morerambling.wordpress.com]

Zynga hauls in massive $180 Million round of financing

2009-12-16T06:38:00.000+02:00

Digital Sky Technologies (the same Russian group behind the $200 Million investment in Facebook) drops $180 Million into social game developer Zynga.

“Social games are enabling millions of people around the world to connect and play together everyday. We are excited about our relationship with DST as they are a global player dedicated to creating services that are meaningful to consumers in the long term,”

- Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga.

” Our earlier investment in Facebook and now in Zynga underscores our premise that social networking and social entertainment will define the next generation of the web.”

– Yuri Milner, chief executive of DST

Articles and analysis from:

The New York Times

The Next Web

VentureBeat

EarthTimes

[Via http://socialgame7.wordpress.com]

Real-Time and Social Media

2009-12-14T06:39:00.000+02:00

MediaPost provides a very interesting article about social media becoming the new mass media. This provides insight into why Google made the decision to integrate real-time information from Twitter and Facebook into its search results. From the article:

“As interactive consumers increasingly consider their social networks as ways to access the information, products and services they want, places like Facebook and even Twitter will become magnets for content producers and advertisers.”

[Via http://realtimerelevance.wordpress.com]

Calling Facebook RESTful API using C# (Without Microsoft Facebook SDK)

2009-12-14T06:25:00.000+02:00

To continue with our previous posts about Facebook I’m going explain how to use the RESTful API from C# code. This time I’m writing a console application to read user Facebook’s statuses. This illustrates that you can really use the RESTful API from any application including desktop.

A very important thing you need to do before this code works is to ask your user for authorization to read his stream with offline access as shown in this post. After your user grants your application to have offline access you can read his session_key and use it everywhere because it will never expire.

First we need to write a Class that mimics Status FQL table.

public class Status { public String status_id { get; set; } public String time { get; set; } public String source { get; set; } public String message { get; set; } }

Then we create a method to generate our data signature.

public static String GetSignature(Dictionary parameters) { MD5 md5 = MD5.Create(); String data = ""; String[] keys = parameters.Keys.OrderBy(k => k.ToString()).ToArray(); for (int i = 0; i < keys.Length; i++) { String key = keys[i]; String value = parameters[key]; data += key + "=" + value; } data += "APPLICATION_SECRET"; byte[] bytes = md5.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(data)); String signature = ""; foreach (byte b in bytes) signature += b.ToString("x2"); return signature; }

After that we just build our post data, post our request, read our response and deserialize the status objects.

static void Main(string[] args) { Dictionary parameters = new Dictionary(); parameters.Add("format", "json"); parameters.Add("method", "Fql.query"); parameters.Add("query", "select status_id, time, source, message from status where uid = USER_ID"); parameters.Add("session_key", "SESSION_KEY"); parameters.Add("api_key", "API_KEY"); parameters.Add("v", "1.0"); parameters.Add("call_id", DateTime.Now.Ticks.ToString()); parameters.Add("sig", GetSignature(parameters)); String postData = ""; for (int i = 0; i < parameters.Keys.Count; i++) { String key = parameters.Keys.ElementAt(i); String value = parameters[key]; String param = key + "=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(value); postData += param; if (i < parameters.Keys.Count - 1) postData += "&"; } HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://api.facebook.com/restserver.php"); request.Method = "POST"; request.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"; StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(request.GetRequestStream()); writer.Write(postData); writer.Close(); DataContractJsonSerializer serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(Status[])); HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse(); Status[] statuses = (Status[])serializer.ReadObject(response.GetResponseStream()); foreach (Status s in statuses) { DateTime time = new DateTime(long.Parse(s.time)); Console.WriteLine(time.ToString() + ", " + s.message); } Console.ReadLine(); }

Note that you can use this approach to call any method in the RESTful API, not to just make FQL queries.

[Via http://blog.manglar.com]

Sex Workers Offer Freebies for Climate Change Delegates in Copenhagen

2009-12-11T06:47:00.000+02:00

Finally, a sexy story about climate change. As the big talks have finally kicked off, here’s one of the lighter stories I’ve read about what’s happening over there.

This is from AFP:

Prostitutes of a Danish sex workers association will offer their services for free to delegates of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, an association official told AFP Saturday.

Susanne Moeller said the move was meant to protest an anti-prostitution initiative undertaken by Copenhagen city hall.

The city, host of the December 7-18 UN climate summit, distributed postcards in Copenhagen’s hotels that said “Be sustainable: Don’t buy sex.” It also sent letters to hotel managers inviting them to take measures to avoid prostitutes meeting clients in their establishments.

This is a bit odd considering that sex work in Denmark is legal. And surely, if you’re involved in the difficult work of trying to save the planet from doom, you may want to engage in adult activities to relieve some stress, right?

Apparently, sex workers there agree and are fighting back against this discrimination. Here’s more about their plan:

“All delegates who come to Copenhagen for the world climate summit will be able to use the postcards for payment after making a request on our website,” Moeller, of the Danish association for the defense of sex workers, said.

“We do not expect many delegates (to make use of the offer), but we want to protest what we consider discrimination,” Moeller said, adding the offer was good for the duration of the climate talks.

If only free sex offers could be used to get countries commit to a binding treaty.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/sex/144432/sex_workers_offer_freebies_for_climate_change_delegates_in_copenhagen

[Via http://ramanan50.wordpress.com]

The Amazing C

2009-12-11T06:43:00.000+02:00

What’s better than being a C person?

Top 10 CEO paycheck 2009:

Rank Name Company Total Compensation

(USD) Per day 1 Sanjay Jha Motorola 104,500,000 287,088 2 Larry Ellion Oracle 86,400,000 237,363 3 Robert Iger Walt Disney Co. 51,100,000 140,385 4 Kenneth Chenault American Express 42,800,000 117,582 5 Vikram Pandit Citigroup 38,200,000 104,945 6 Mark Hurd Hewlett-Packard 34,000,000 93,407 7 Jack Fusco Calpine 32,700,000 89,835 8 Rupert Murdoch News Corp 30,100,000 82,692 9 David Cote Honeywell International 28,700,000 78,846 10 A.G. Lafley Procter & Gamble 25,600,000 70,330

Surprisingly, where is Apple? where is Microsoft and where is McDonald??

[Via http://christyli.wordpress.com]

Berakhir dengan semangat!

2009-12-09T06:45:00.000+02:00

Tulisan testimoni ini adalah kutipan dari Notes Mas Agung S. Wibowo dari Facebook setelah selesai memberikan pelatihan kepada guru Madrasah di Kec. Kemang Bogor pada program Developing Junior Scientist.

++++

40 jam bersama para guru madrasah dari kecamatan kemang kabupaten bogor memberika kesan yang sangat berarti buatku.

selama lima hari mereka bersemangat datang tepat waktu, bahkan sebelum jam delapan pagi untuk mengikuti pelatihan pembelajaran sains.

mata mereka berbinar dari pagi sampai sore mengikuti kegiatan dengan penuh semangat, tanpa satu orangpun menguap.

kening berkerut tanda berpikir, namun mulut tetap tersenyum bahkan kadang tertawa ketika beraktivitas: berdiskusi, tanya jawab, berekperimen, mengerjakan LKS, bahkan membuat RPP yang dianggap pekerjaan yang menjemukan menjadi kegiatan yang membuat hati senang.

tiada awal tanpa akhir

lima hari berlalu dengan cepat.

pukul 3.30 sore, hari terakhir kepala mereka masih tegak, salah seorang bahkan berkomentar, rasanya baru dua menit.

ini belum cukup, kami mau lagi!

aku bisa! kamu bisa! semua bisa…berkualitas!

itu yang akan mereka bawa pulang

dengan shalawat nabi mereka bersiap untuk pulang dan berbagi dengan siswa mereka

semangat!

parung 5 desember 2009

[Via http://prasastiimani.wordpress.com]

friend me.

2009-12-09T06:16:00.000+02:00

Facebook has now become a household term. Tagging friends no longer has the connotation of child’s play. “friending” someone is acceptable grammar. We have become a society obsessed with social networking. Therefore, in an attempt to correct my obsession, I have decided to stay away from my Facebook for two weeks (courtesy of my friend, K., changing my password). Let’s see how this works, shall we?

xoxo,

guitarchick (T.)

P.S. SYTYCD fans anywhere? CALL 1888TEMPO-05!

P.P.S. GLEE FINALE TOMORROW!!!!

[Via http://guitarchick.wordpress.com]

Join Zell's Pinstripe Forum & Social Network With Us

2009-12-07T06:27:00.000+02:00

You can join our forum right here: Zell’s Pinstripe Forum: http://zellspinstripeblog.proboards.com/ It’s a place where my readers and other Yankees fan can talk about the greatest franchise in all of sports. The community is growing day by day.

I’ve created a facebook group, twitter account, and a myspace page all dedicated to Zell’s Pinstripe Blog. On these sites you can follow what’s going on with my blog. Feel free to join.

Join our Facebook Group Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Myspace

[Via http://zellspinstripeblog.com]

Christmas Trees and the Rest of the Junkee's

2009-12-07T06:26:00.000+02:00

Sundays are usually pretty uneventful at our house this time of the year. We are always busy during the warm months but this time of the year we slow down. Sure, we may throw a load of laundry into the washer or cook a nice dinner but other than that it’s veg out on the couch day. Last Sunday however was an exception and we actually went and did something other than facebook and blog.

Paula, Logan, Nick and I spent most of the morning at Festival Of Trees. Festival Of Trees is almost everything Christmas. A huge miniature train display, gingerbread houses, music, wreaths, lights, games for the kids and of course hundreds of ornately decorated trees were some of the highlights of the festival. Now by now some of you may be asking where the photos are. I do have a reason, although it’s a lame reason and I’m still kicking myself in the ass for not bringing my camera, but a reason none the less. Please forgive me for not providing photos of the festival. (bowing head in shame)

I didn’t bring my camera because after we finished strolling through the festival, we met Javajunkee (aka Lisa) and family at the mall. I didn’t want to lug my heavy camera around the mall the rest of the day and I certainly didn’t want to leave it in the car so I left it at home.

Paula, Nick and I had of course already met Lisa and her daughter Erin, but it was our first time meeting Mr. Javajunkee (aka David) and Mr. Javajunkee Jr. (aka Jake). It was the first time any of the Junkee’s met Logan. After we all met up in front of JC Penney’s and being introduced to one another, we decided to head to the food court for some lunch. After lunch, Nick ventured out into the mall with Erin and Jake leaving just the adults and Logan. I walked Logan down to the ice cream shop for some dessert after a quick stop at Aeropostale so I could get a new stocking cap. I found this really cool stocking cap with a bill on it similar to a baseball cap. I really like the hat and Nick really likes it but Paula says I look like Elmer Fudd. Maybe I will take some photos and let you all decide. My sons informed me later that the cap is called a “beanie”.

After I returned to the food court with Logan and my new beanie, we all headed over to Starbucks inside Barnes and Noble for some coffee. We sat there for quite a while chatting and all getting to know one another. Logan spent a lot of time on Lisa’s lap teaching her how to read and looking at books. LOL

Can a Sunday get any better than visiting a festival guaranteed to get you into the holiday spirit and enjoying lunch with new friends? I think NOT! It was a pleasure to see Lisa and Erin again and meeting David and Jake. I’m looking forward to our next get together already!

[Via http://wideworldofgary.wordpress.com]

Neal B. EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Iqbal Theba aka PRINCIPAL FIGGINS!

2009-12-04T06:49:00.000+02:00

** Read my interview with Iqbal Theba aka PRINCIPAL FIGGINS! inside **

Read the Interview Inside!

** Read my interview with Iqbal Theba aka PRINCIPAL FIGGINS! inside **

Iqbal Theba

Iqbal has played many roles in television and film including “Community”, “Two and a Half Men”, “ER”, and “The West Wing”. He is known for playing Principal Figgins on the hit Fox television show, “Glee”. I chatted with him about the show, life as an actor, and of course words of wisdom from the principal himself! Find him on Facebook at the “Iqbal Theba Page”!

———————————————

NEAL: You have done so many television and film roles, but for those who are unfamiliar with your back-story, tell us in a nutshell how you wound up in Hollywood.

IQBAL: Born in Karachi, Pakistan on December 20, 1963. Started college as a Freshman at the University of Oklahoma in 1981. Studied Civil Engineering at first and have a BS in Construction Engineering Management. Hated my job in a Construction Company in Oklahoma City, so, Went back to the University of Oklahoma in 1986 and majored in Acting. Spent a year in NYC and moved to LA in 1991. Waited on about a million tables in the process.

NEAL: You have quite a story of how you arrived to Hollywood! There must have been some pretty hard days struggling to make it in show business. Was it hard staying positive?

IQBAL: I am the most positive person you’ll ever meet. I have seen pretty bad days during my struggling actor days. In NYC, at least a couple of times, I didn’t have enough money to buy food and I went hungry. But, I never pitied myself and never gave up. My passion for Acting helped me survive.

NEAL: When you first started out, did you ever dream you would be on such a big television hit and being in some of the biggest movies and shows out there?

IQBAL: Of course I dreamt of all those things. But, there was a time when it all seemed so improbable.

NEAL: Speaking of “Glee”, can you tell us what a typical day for you on the set is like?

IQBAL: Well, I LOVE going to work on GLEE. I basically show up at Paramount Studios, which is within walking distance from where I live (can you believe my luck?!), and check in with the second AD. If the shooting is going according to the plan then I go to make-up and hair which is a formality for me… because I don’t like wearing make-up or hair gel or anything. I had requested during the Pilot shoot that they just powder my face with anti-shine and simply comb my hair right before all the takes. The agreed. So, I don’t really spend anytime in the make-up chair. Sometimes, I have a lot of free time at my hand if they are running behind. So, I drink tea and hang out with the other cast members, producers and the crew. The show has the friendliest and the most fun people and it is never boring.

NEAL: Are you amazed at the success of the show?

IQBAL: I know it might sound cocky or arrogant, but, I knew this was going to be a hit when I read the script for the Pilot. However, I feel truly Blessed and Lucky that I am part of this amazing show.

NEAL: Obviously music is such an important part of the show. Why do you think people respond so well to the music? How do you think that has changed the way the story arc is written each week?

IQBAL: People respond to music because it conveys something that cannot be conveyed in prose or just words. GLEE works because it’s characters sing only when they must and words wont express their true feelings. I don’t think the story arc changes because of the music. I think the writers write a good story and then pick the music according to the character’s need to express a particular feeling, emotion or a point of view.

NEAL: On “Glee”, the show deals with some heavy issues: teen pregnancy, being gay, high school drama, etc. When you looked at the script for the first time, were you surprised about how the show was able to keep things light while getting their important messages out there?

IQBAL: What’s brilliant about GLEE is that it never lets itself wallow in any situation or a point of view, be it grief or exhilaration . It doesn’t try to “milk” an issue or a feeling. It deals with issues without cheapening the subject matter. And that aspect of the show wasn’t as glaringly obvious until I saw the Pilot because the way they edit the show and the use of background music or lack of it.

NEAL: Can you reveal to us anything that will be happening in this season?

IQBAL: Well, I would love to tell your readers exactly what’s going to happen… but, I cantJ. All I can say is that great episodes are ahead and I hope you all continue to watch the show. Oh, here’s something you may not know… we finished shooting 13 episodes back in early July. We are going to start shooting the 14th episode on Jan 6. So, between mid December and early April no new episodes will air, assuming they continue airing new episodes till mid December.

NEAL: What new projects do you have lined up?

IQBAL: Well, there is a Pilot called Ghosts/Aliens for Comedy Central that I just did. If it gets the green light then it will shoot in the summer of 2010. I also have a recurring role on the NBC show “Community”. I am also in the process of developing a feature Film for myself but that’s in its very early stages and I cant tell you anything about the story or subject matter at this point.

NEAL: If you had to give advice to any aspiring actors, what would it be?

IQBAL: If you are serious about becoming a working actor then make sure all your energies AND money are spent in the following order of priority… (1) Pursuit of Acting. (2) Food. (3) Roof over your head…… Your determination to become a working actor is the most important tool that you have.

NEAL: Do you think nowadays, more actors who are minorities are getting film/television roles? In regard to minority actors, do you think there is a trend in more diversity in television and film roles?

IQBAL: There is more diversity now than before, more so in TV than in Film. Films are still very rigidly cast. Principal Figgins was written for a white guy but they cast me. It would not have happened in Film.

NEAL: Being a minority actor has its pros and cons. For you, do you feel it helps you gain roles in Holly or at times works against you?

IQBAL: Being a minority works in my favor when it comes to smaller parts. But, I usually don’t have a prayer when it comes to bigger roles.

NEAL: To date, what has been the most surreal moment of being in Hollywood? I guess, your “Hollywood moment” –and why?

IQBAL: I think “surreal” moments happen to people who didn’t have to struggle for too long. For someone like me who has spent a couple of decades in pursuit of Acting everything is… well, it is what it is.

NEAL: To go along with that question, what has been your favorite role to date and why?

IQBAL: Figgins of course! I find it quite challenging because Figgins has to be played with the right mix of someone who is an authority figure but who is also very insecure about his own strengths as a person. It is a very fine line to walk as an actor.

NEAL: As Principal Figgins, you have the tough job of keeping some sanity and trying to dispense words of wisdom to your school. Any last words of wisdom for the readers?

IQBAL: Live your life with Intelligence, Compassion and Passion. Aaaand, please join my Fan page on Facebook “iqbal theba page” and support me and Principal Figgins.

Remember to catch Iqbal in Glee on Fox!

[Via http://nealbinnyc.wordpress.com]

Facebook Friday: Mark Zuckerburg on New Facebook Security

2009-12-04T06:39:00.000+02:00

As all Facebook users cannot help but be aware, Mark Zuckerberg has sent an open letter addressing Facebook’s new security measures. Here is Mark Zuckerberg’s open letter about security.

Zuckerburg (did Zuckerberg really write this letter? I find that hard to believe after seeing the Facebook Founder in interview) begins his letter with the fact the Facebook community has grown to over 350 million users worldwide which, of course, necessitates the revision and implementation of new security measures. To begin with, networks based on regions or territories will be a thing of the past. Regional networks have simply become to large and, well, useless.

Next, Zuckerberg states:

We’re adding something that many of you have asked for — the ability to control who sees each individual piece of content you create or upload. In addition, we’ll also be fulfilling a request made by many of you to make the privacy settings page simpler by combining some settings. If you want to read more about this, we began discussing this plan back in July.

At some point in the near future we will be messaged and walked through what we need to learn and do as Facebook users to keep up with the times by adjusting our security sections. I am actually interested to learn more. Especially considering that Canada instigated these changes.

[Via http://blog.imarkcomm.com]

As Facebook Hits 350M Mark, Growth Shows Signs of Slowing

2009-12-02T06:42:00.000+02:00

Facebook has crossed the 350 million active user mark, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced tonight. But while the site’s latest growth spurt is impressive, it took 77 days, as compared to earlier this year when Facebook had added 50 million users in as short a time as 62 days. But it’s still the site’s second-quickest such milestone to date.

A Look Back at Facebook Growth Dec. 1, 2009: 350 million users (77 days since last benchmark) Sept. 15, 2009: 300 million users (62 days since last benchmark) July 15, 2009: 250 million users (98 days since last benchmark) April 8, 2009: 200 million users (91 days since last benchmark) Jan. 7, 2009: 150 million users (134 days since last benchmark) August 26, 2008: 100 million users Source: Facebook blog posts

Of course, at some point Facebook’s growth has to slow down, unless the company scores a global maternity ward deal. The opportunities for the self-reported cash-flow positive Facebook to expand quickly and easily are petering out. There were only 444 million worldwide broadband subscribers in the second quarter of 2009, according to Point Topic. Hence the increasing value of more accessible products like Facebook’s mobile and “Lite” versions that address markets where broadband still is not prevalent.

It’s perhaps fitting that Zuckerberg announced the 350 million milestone alongside the phasing out of the company’s regional network feature. Regional networks were first introduced three years ago as a way to facilitate expansion when Facebook moved from a schools-only service to the general public. The idea was to expose new users’ offline communities to give them a group of local profiles to access within the site. At the time, Facebook had 9.5 million users.

Clearly, things have changed. “[A]s Facebook has grown, some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we’ve concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy,” Zuckerberg said in a blog post Tuesday.

Zuckerberg did not say when the feature would be disabled, but said it would affect the nearly 50 percent of Facebook users who have identified themselves as members of regional networks. “In the next couple of weeks” all users will be asked to update their privacy settings. Many users may be happy about new privacy features that include granular item-by-item controls, but then again these updates have a way of confusing and annoying people, especially all those buckets upon buckets of new members.

Please see the disclosure regarding Facebook on my bio page.

[Via http://gigaom.com]

privacy matters

2009-12-02T06:31:00.000+02:00

What is going on with Facebook’s constant gyrations about privacy policy? Does anyone really care?

A little while ago I suggested that online privacy concerns are best addressed by free market solutions, not governmental regulation. I’ve discussed the topic with quite a few entrepreneurs, investors and professional marketers, and the overwhelming view in that group is that regular consumers just don’t care about online privacy. ”They” say:

privacy is too complicated a topic for consumers to understand
no one reads privacy policies
consumers can be distracted from privacy concerns with the offer of just about any shiny object

Much of that might be true – but I also took the time to talk to a bunch of “regular” consumers. And these things are definitely true:

consumers know that their privacy is being compromised by many online services
consumers do not like being taken for granted
consumers will avoid services that abuse their information, and will seek services that use their information properly

These two sets of “truths” are not mutually inconsistent. To me, they add up to: Online services can gain a competitive advantage by giving consumers the most sensible default choices along with the right advanced options for privacy – make it simple, but make it right. I think Facebook believes this, and that’s why they keep tinkering with their policies. They understand that a lot of their initial attraction was a result of making different privacy assumptions than more open services like FriendFeed and Twitter. They know that even if no one ever reads their privacy policy, if they make the wrong choices about privacy, they will lose users. As they saturate their available audience, they have to figure out how to strike the right balance among their different demographic bases, all the while competing with the advantages that more open services have.

These are extremely nuanced choices, but getting them right makes the barrier to competitive threat all the more defensible. And these are product choices; this is something that many I’ve talked to misunderstand: people think that this privacy stuff is just legal mumbo jumbo or regulatory mishmash. That’s plain wrong – laws and regulations are just the cart behind the horse. In a social product where community is paramount, policy choices are product choices.

[Via http://blog.ginsudo.com]

Facebook ei ole lasten paikka

2009-11-30T06:38:00.000+02:00

Facebookissa alaikäraja on 13-vuotta, mutta silti tulee jatkuvasti esille, että alakoululaisilla on jo oma Facebook-tunnuksensa. Tässä piilee iso riski, koska Facebookiin kirjaudutaan oikealla nimellä. Toki on mahdollista piilottaa nimeä lukuunottamatta kaikki muut tiedot, mutta kun se on hankalaa monelle aikuisellekin, miten se hoituisi lapsilta?

Facebook-tunnusta lapsilla on perusteltu vanhempien taholta (!) mm. yhteydenpidolla sukulaisten kanssa. Ensinnä, mitä viestimme lapselle erilaisten ohjeiden noudattamisesta (tässä ikäraja), jos annamme alaikäiselle luvan tehdä tunnus vanhemmille tarkoitettuun palveluun? Toiseksi, on turvallisempia tapoja pitää yhteyttä sukulaisiin – vaikka verkossakin. Facebookissa on paljon myös erilaisia ihmisiä, jotka ottavat yhteyttä kuka mistäkin syystä ja millaisin selityksin. Aina eivät lapset muista, mitä asiasta on vanhempien kanssa sovittu. Sitäpaitsi, vanhemmat eivät aina edes tiedä, että heidän lapsellaan on ko. tunnus. Olisikohan asian merkeissä aika pitää kodissa “pyöreän pöydän keskustelu” koko perheen voimin?

[Via http://mesiksen.wordpress.com]

2009-11-30T06:20:00.000+02:00

There is no disputing that Facebook has a massive audience. One challenge that advertisers are facing is how to truly engage Facebook users’ attention when they primarily visit the site to interact and share with friends? Word-of-mouth is often the most effective form of advertising and channels like Facebook can help it’s viral spread, but how do you cause people to act as champions for your brand and products? You have to somehow involve your products in their social interactions. IKEA’s advertising agency found a clever way:

[Via http://rodneypayne.wordpress.com]

Odnoklassniki VS Facebook

2009-11-27T06:28:00.000+02:00

“I’ll find him in Odnoklassniki. He is a friend of my friend,” “OK, I’ll contact him on Facebook.” Both types of phrases have become frequent in everyday conversations. It’s all about social media’s growing popularity and the first phrase is associated with Odnoklassniki and the other – with Facebook. Two different types of social media, with different style of work, have impact on many Georgians’ way of living. Evidently some users are even ready to pay for various extra functions or points to their profile. In general, Odnoklassniki and Facebook somehow divide the society in big groups different environments, acquaintance and type of communication.

Odnoklassniki gifts page

Odnoklassniki was founded in March 4, 2006 and is the analogous the site Classmates.com. According to the own survey of July 9, 2009, it has 40 million users and 8 million of them visit the site per day. As for Georgia, Odnoklassniki is one of the top 10 visited sites. Advertising company, Geoplus, which provides advertisements for Odnoklassniki, says that Odnoklassniki or Odno, as it is called by its users, has 45 thousand users in Georgia. This social media is mainly oriented on people, who have not seen each other for a long time. Odnoklassniki identifies people by the school, where they studied, universities which they graduated and jobs they have/had or even by places of military service.

The social media is favored by teenagers. Tika Samkurashvili, PR manager from Georgian Marketing and Communications Company (GEPRA), is one of those who go to Odnoklassniki as they turn on their computers: “Odno is my life. It is ON from early morning till late night.”

Not everybody signs up for it to find their classmates. Tako Rusadze, who also frequently uses the social media, had other interests: “I created an account because of an young man I liked, and I stayed there.”

As for the main features, Odnoklassniki holds three of them: picture galleries, groups and chat. There are no closed profiles, which means that every user can see others’ pictures. After some time it becomes clear that the social media, which was oriented on finding classmates, transformed in a site of relationships. To address users’ interests, Odnoklassniki developed the interface and specifically – chat system. Besides, the site administration started charging for services on Odnoklassniki.

It started in 2007 when for extra tools people had to pay 5 GEL. The process went on and in the end even registration on the site became payable. But interest in the website was so high that it did not prevent people from paying for the service. “I blocked my account several months ago, I closed my account, – says Ana Gorgidze – but 2 days later registered again.”

Mark Zuckerberg

While Odnoklassniki impacts its fans in post-Soviet territory, the other social media has them all over the world. Facebook, the social media which Mark Zuckerberg created his Harvard dorm room, was launched in February 4, 2004, and is already known as the world social media. In 5 years it changed its interface 4 times and the number of users reached 250 million. In Georgia more and more people become frequent users of this social network. Some part of it comes directly from Odnoklassniki. “To tell the truth, my friends found it tasteless and suggested me to register in Facebook” – says Nino Tefnadze, one of ex-Odno-users.

Tasteless or not, the reality is that Odnoklassniki is more popular than Facebook. More people know of the first, than the other – information service 09’s operator #26 says, she has never heard of Facebook. In spite of the fa Facebook is available in 70 languages and Georgian is among them, it might be difficult for beginners. The main problem is to switch to Facebook, since its features are different and more complicadet from other social networks, for example, Odnoklassniki. According to Leli Blagonravova, photojournalist, Facebook is difficult for people, who don’t know social media well. Due to this, communication is far different between them.

“Facebook is a real platform to express yourself in any way as you want; – says Tika Samkurashvili, – it’s a remarkable way for self-realization. You can create your own image for others.” Facebook has variety of tools and possibilities for public relations. One can not only register himself/herself as a user, but can also have a group, brand page or fan page. The user decides which one could be suitable to introduce himself/herself or some product to audience. The main feature of Facebook is that it is informational. Users, who have some kind of news or opinions, publish them on their profile and make it visible for their friends.

Facebook in 2004-2005 Facebook in 2006 Facebook in 2007 Facebook in 2009

Unlike Odnoklassniki, Facebook does not have a good chat system. This is one of the reasons why people from Odno cannot get used to Facebook. They also find available big amount of information useless. Besides, they need entertainment and, as they say, Odnoklassniki is better in providing it to them. While talking about entertainment it’s worthy to mention that Facebook has social games like Pet Society, Mafia Wars, Farm Ville, which grow in popularity, while Odnoklassniki has none of them. And still the “Odno society” prefers their social media.

Odnoklassniki comments page

“I know that Facebook is better but I’ve got used to the situation in Odnoklassniki and I’ll leave it only if the site itself will be closed,” – says Ana Gorgidze. According to her on Odno it’s fashionable to have +5 points on every photo, presents and flash smiles. These payable details make the site more involving, eye-catching and, what’s important, more suitable for teenagers’ demands. Today it is already hard to say that Odnoklassniki is a social media that focuses on finding old classmates. Especially when many users register with nicknames, which means that they cannot be found by the search system with their real names. On the contrary, Facebook users have their real names registered in their accounts. This fact somehow creates a high level of trust. Tamaz Kupreishvili, journalist and a blogger, finds Facebook an inevitable part of his laptop: “Here it’s easy to talk to people on any theme you want. For example, if you like/dislike a TV show you can easily talk to the author and discuss or give some advice. All of this is impossible to make in Odnoklassniki.”

As for public discussion, Odnoklassniki is more closed for that. Although there are many discussion groups, like Poetry or Stop Russia, most of them appear to support the moderator’s opinion and frequently block others points of view. The same can be said about comments on pictures. Ana Gorgidze finds it flattering because “you have to write that it’s a remarkable picture, or a nice shot. If you write something bad, you might be blocked by the user.” In spite of this, Russian language site is easier for most part of Georgians rather than English language Facebook, which impacts mainly young generation.

Unfortunately, there can not be found an official sources about the number of Georgian users of Facebook. However it is evident that in one year they have become more and include even those celebrities like Kakha Bendukidze, Nika Memanishvili, Levan Ramishvili. Does this fact mean that a huge group of Odno’s fans will little-by-little disappear? Ilia Nikachadze, a Facebook user, thinks that “a lot will leave Odnoklassniki but some percent will stay there. These might be people, who really are fond of it or who find themselves older to learn English.”

Eventually, Facebook holds its position in Georgian society as an informative social media and spreads itself to large audience. As for Odnoklassniki, according to Nikachadze’s comment, it’s ruling popularity might fall if most Georgian users tend to get information rather than to chat with others. At last, the idea of two big groups of users really works.

[Via http://journalistuss.wordpress.com]

Now Gmail, Facebook accessible on cable TV

2009-11-27T06:26:00.000+02:00

New Delhi: There’s good news for those who use cable television services. You can now check your Gmail, watch YouTube videos or connect with friends on Facebook at the cost of the regular cable subscription of Rs. 150-200 per month – without having to pay extra for an internet connection.

Logic Eastern, a Noida-based manufacturer of cable infrastructure, has developed special set-top boxes which come with an in-built patented hardware that enables connections to Gmail, Facebook and YouTube. The company has made possible two-way flow of data, that is, from websites to cable operators to consumers and return by using the existing cellphone technology.

The company has installed large servers which download Gmail, YouTube and Facebook pages on behalf of its subscribers and pushes them on to their television screens. For now, consumers can access this service with a special remote control. However the company is developing a wi-fi keyboard that will be given along with the set-top boxes. Also, apart from the remote control, consumers can use their mobile phones to surf channels or access these websites.

Logic Eastern has already deployed 60,000 such set-top boxes across South Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar and Jammu. The company has roped in ICICI as an investor. It has bought a 20 percent stake, which is helping Logic Eastern monetise these services that even existing Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) companies and the Direct-to-Home (DTH) operators have not been able to achieve.

“We believe it will be critical for cable operators to differentiate their services by leveraging the massive bandwidth that their cables take to each home. This is something that even DTH cannot do,” says Vineet Wadhwa, Chief Technology Officer and Promoter of Logic Eastern. Instead of value-added services, the company prefers to call them ‘enhanced services.’ But how safe is accessing your email via cable? It is as safe as logging on to the internet on your home computer or laptop, says Wadhwa.

By siliconindia news bureau

[Via http://techpiyush.wordpress.com]