DISQUS

Admittedly I've only had In-N-Out Burger once and Five Guys lots of times, but I have to go with Five Guys. But even then, it goes beyond just the burger... there's the experience. Ordering, the peanuts, the not-quite-hole-in-the-wall feel in most locations... it makes for a good experience all the way around.

Good call Steve.

I adopted GTD almost two years ago now and I was *not* good at it. I struggled with it for the first couple months and fell off the wagon a number of times. It's only about that time that I got into the right mind of "write it down"... that nothing counts unless it's either a) done (for 2 minute tasks) or b) on the list.

And once it's on the list - or in the "later" file with a date to check in - I've found that I can just happily forget about it. My rolling calendar will display it for me when the time comes.

It's the only way I've retained my little semblance of sanity. ;)

I've been using these concepts for a few years to dig information about competitors. I even wrote about some of the *early* patterns I discovered along these lines: http://caseysoftware.com/free-tagging/linkedin

I use my Twitter handle, but that's partially because I was lucky enough to get it everywhere. If you want to find me on IM, Skype, Twitter, LinkedIn, or just about anywhere else "caseysoftware" works. Consistency is key.

I even have it on MSN where I have no contacts. ;)

Kirk,

Thanks for the link and to put it in other terms and yes, you nailed it. Of course, there's one more thing that you have to do. There's one more thing that brings it all together... stay tuned. ;)

Micah, some great points throughout... I've had a number of opportunities to move from DC to SF and each time, I've declined it. One of the major things has been the big fish/small pond thing. In DC, the intensity and amount of chatter is a fraction of SF and that much easier to participate in.

Actually, you should tag this one "drupal" too, since that's what OnSugar is built on - http://whatis.onsugar.com/ But as a Drupal guy for lots of years, I'm a bit biased. ;)

Ray,

Thanks for sharing your experiences here. Although I've never had to experience a bankruptcy and can't imagine going through it myself, I feel I have a little more understanding of the process... which sounds downright terrifying. Anyway, I'm glad to have some "been there, done that" people in the community to share their thoughts and experiences. I sincerely appreciate it.

So keep it up!

My other issue stands... if the govt pays for it or subsidizes it, you have to plan on them using it for their own purposes. Or deciding to monitor it when they decide it is worthwhile. It's a dangerous line to cross. I'd go for Comcast's bandwidth caps before I allowed my traffic to be monitored by the Feds at their whim.

That's *ridiculous*. As soon as you allow the government to own or even subsidize something, you allow them to control it... that applies to the internet too. Look at the way they currently treat libraries. You can count on the same thing happening to ISP's if what you suggest actually happens.

And by the way, it's already failed once... in the mid-90's there was an attempt to bring schools online. All it resulted in was *millions* and *millions* being spent to buy new Cisco gear that sat in closets. Thanks, but no thanks.

Oh man, you're hanging out with these guys now?

Seriously though, welcome aboard. You're one of the handful of people in the DC tech scene who has been there and done that. I look forward to hearing what you have to say. :)

When I read this one, I was reminded of my own "Art of the Introduction" - http://caseysoftware.com/blog/the-art-of-the-in... - where you have a very limited window of someone's time/attention to give them something of interest/value. If you don't, people tend to get annoyed and/or write you off pretty quickly. Not good for any business. ;)

We need to start a new campaign: "Have you punched a hippie today?"

I have *huge* admiration for the Rolling Thunder guys.. after the protesters started going after families at funerals, they started forming Honor Guards and keeping the morons out.

That was great and one of the more creative retrospectives! Nice job and a great song selection. Fitting. ;)

@Chris - I don't use the on-site messaging all that much, I hit people's profiles to get their latest email, im, or phone number and then contact them directly. ;)

The messaging through FB is weak at best.

The biggest benefit of Facebook for me is that it's a self-updating address book. I used to run my own CRM system but it gets so out of date so quickly that I gave up tracking my contacts. Facebook solves that problem for me.

And when I first got on 3+ years ago, it was a great way for me to track down friends still in grad school, whatever.

And then there's http://WhyGoSolo.com which is our social network to get you offline. ;) But we aren't a competitor to all of those, we integrate directly. When you sign up for WhyGoSolo and add a listing, it ripples through your networks... shows up on your Facebook profile, appears in your Twitter stream, and (eventually) shows up on your blog via widgets.

We're the tool for taking online connections offline. ;)

Thanks for the nod and no problem at all. Glad to be of service.

I was following the SXSW coverage with a bit of jealousy and finally saw something I could do! Woohoo!

I think they're missing the change in mindset too...

In the past, the economic success of an industry/area/etc was based on having a couple major players/employers in the area. While those are still strong indicators and aren't irrelevant, they're only part of the picture. In the last couple years, the number, variety, and types of tech companies in the area has not only exploded, but they're becoming better connected.

I think this is where DC is excelling and growing in ways that the WaPo doesn't detect and probably can't get their minds around... yet.

Actually, the lovely PR blogger Amanda Gravel - http://socialhoneycomb.com/ - has her Twitter, Facebook, and even Flickr accounts listed on her card. Not sure for how long now, but I got it at PodCampBoston in October.

Dibs?

I think Gideon summed it up pretty well:

"Because a huge part of this country is still staggaringly backward and has all sorts of ‘passive racism.’ I don’t know much about you or where you come from, Robert, but I’ve spent the vast majority of my life in the midwest - and it’s still pretty bad here in ‘red state land.’"

Robert, most "liberal enclaves" - whether you're thinking of SF, LA, NYC, or DC - are echo chambers where they assume that the rest of the country is backwards and racist. Luckily, make out decisions about people based on their values and actions as opposed to their geography.

~ Born and raised outside Chicago, college in Indiana, living and working in DC.

I think it comes down to a few simple facts:
* the shield law is to cover confidential sources and information; and
* the actions happened in public and therefore is not confidential.

The fact that it is footage of a crime being committed is irrelevant since the shield laws would probably protect the breaking of other laws (think of a reporter doing an expose into drug dealing)... but getting the footage from a security camera in front of a gas station would be different.

The interesting part will be to see where the 9th Circuit comes down on this. In the past, they've tended to side with the ever-encroaching power of the gov at any level they can.

I don't understand the fascination with knitting and knit blogs, but I actually know a professional knitter - yes, there is such a profession - my wife: http://fearlessknitting101.com/

I was following it off and on for a while and thought it was a joke until MarkTAW stepped into high gear and started tracking down IP's, the embassy officials, etc.

After that, I was hopeful but didn't think it'd work.