DISQUS

Um...folks this is about more than just ranking, and more than just twitter. I had to chuckle when I clicked below on this comment box for "share my comment on twitter". It asks for my login and password.

The problem is that many of these web2.0 services have provided no way to share information between sites without giving out your login and password. Sometimes its just ego surfing/ranking but sometimes it is connecting with friends or aggregating your information, or making it easier to update multiple sites.

It may or may not be a scam but it isn't going to solve the problem. Wide implementation of APIs for data sharing is what will address the problem.

I actually like the what are you doing tagline. Even though we don't strictly follow it, it gives an intro that anyone can meet. We're all doing something even if the answer is breathing. What do you have to say? Well now it sounds important, and to many imposing. The sillyness of "doing" makes it light at easy to post and is possibly why it has taken off so much. Someone who maybe felt they had nothing to say might discover they did after writing what they are doing a while.

I think it really depends on the tool and how we use it. Messaging systems, like twitter, really depend on who is there. I'm sometimes on identi.ca but, um, you (ok, and a few other people I want to listen to) aren't there so I keep checking twitter and posting to twitter because of the people.

For a bookmark tool, although the social piece is there it isn't as critical. As long as I can link it into an aggregator (like friendfeed) or find a useful way to share the updates I can make the information be where the people I care about are.

That said, the open features are great for new adapters and will get some people joining them from other services, but what would really move me - in addition to features that would make it better - is an easy way to get my data over to it without having to do the work. I use delicious because that's what I started using and it works for me and it is easy to get the bookmarks in. To move - show me it gives me more and don't make me work to get my information together again.

So who's there is a piece, but less so than some other services, and this is in part because of agreggators like friendfeed (or even jaiku).

Ok, I have to admit I saw the analogy and thought of hostels and a place in Santa Cruz where lots of students rented called the bordello. (It used to be a bordello now it is just housing, assuming it still stands.)

I think a bed and power is sort of the bare minimum for a rental/hostel. In the really low end of housing you may have shared bathrooms and shared phone.

Does this mean that social media will be ubiquitous but at the low end of the scale access will only be through a shared medium (e.g. shared terminals at the library.)

Or is it likely that even at the low end access will be available on an independent means?

Autorelaying tweets to anywhere other than a twitter client would overwhelm me. The answer is you have to learn to let it go. I use a twitter client that saves a certain number of tweets. When I go away and come back I check whats in the client and then go forward from there.

I also turn off twitter notifications and just ignore it from time to time and have 1 day a week twitter free. There is always something going on that we won't know about and that is ok. Grazing on twitter will give you a good picture on what is going on, but don't obsess about getting it all.

I was mostly offline for about a week (travel - I don't drive and tweet) and when I came back not that much had happened. I had missed a few details here and there, but many of those were transient details anyway.

So my advice would be: pick who you follow carefully, get a client that has a limited buffer of tweets, take breaks, and know that the tweets you miss won't really make a big difference in the end.

Taking time by yourself is a good thing, and not necessarily a selfish thing. If taking that time gives you a chance to refresh and recharge yourself, and remind yourself of what you are capable of it benefits everyone.

Wonderful post! Happy Birthday!

Cool reflections but I would say that each era of childhood has its advantages.

My "tv" was books and theatrical productions that my friends made up and put on. (It also was the 3 channels we could get and I watched a ton of whatever it was)

Games were what we and the neighborhood kids made up. We were the generators of content, not the recipients because there were few alternatives. (Yes kids today can generate but they can also just be consumers)

Because travel was infrequent (and expensive) Daddy & Mommy weren't away that often and when they were I was with them exploring new places.

When we walked away from home the phone stayed at home and there were no interruptions.

When I shared my creations the person I was sharing them was there and I could watch their reactions.

The power of the net is awesome and gives today's kids opportunities we never had, but at the same time the new tools have their disadvantages. I think your kid's greatest advantage is that they have parents that love them and spend time with them.

Yep twitter is awesome. One way that I search around for new folks to follow is by going to the pages of twitters that have a lot of good stuff to say and see who they are following.

But the "are you saying something or just posting links" is usually how I decide if I should follow someone who just started following me.

Oh and testing 1...2...8...

Excellent points. I have actually worked on getting better at answering the question "Can I help you." But when I'm really swamped and can use the help the first thing that goes through my mind is "I'm to busy to come up with what it is you can help me with." I have learned to pause and say, "Oh you can wash the lettuce" or whatever it is they can help with.

The funny thing is that I don't know that the market has changed, only where the market is. I've done some research on fund raising, and what people have noticed is that people give to the causes that their friends are involved in. I suspect that purchases are similarly influenced. How many tweets have said "I'm going to movie X have you seen it"?

The thing that I think is derailing people is that some people don't seem to grasp that communities created in virtual environments are as real and influential, and in some ways more real and influential as those created at workplaces and neighborhoods.

For those who have adapted to the new environment it is obvious that those I twitter with and facebook with and blog with know more about me than possibly the hypothetical guy in the next cube. Because our environment is conversational we talk about more as who we are is defined by how we project ourselves.

I think the social networks may be more influential because of:
1) the amount of dialog/discussion (or conversations to use the parlance of the cluetrain manifesto)
2) the ability to connect on interest - down to very specific interests.
3) The global nature. My network covers the nation and so the impact goes beyond a small circle. The connections may be looser but there are so many more.

What an awesome day. You did a great job with the excitement for the giveaway and the new features are awesome! Hmm...maybe I'll make Biscotti today.

Um...why are those ADD characteristics? I've never thought myself to have ADD but the list sounds like me. I can be scattered but I can get heavily into a task and then good luck getting my attention.

I might add that taking responsibility (or owning the problem) is part of the solution. I remember being at a meeting with a bunch of people complaining that something was broken and trying to place blame. One person got up and said "Ok, it's my fault, now lets just fix the problem." It wasn't his fault (it may have been no ones) but his simple statement got the team back on track.

My mom recently went through a 54+ hour trip home from Spain. Flight time is approximately 14 hours, so you can see that there were some serious mess-ups. Her rather accurate observation was "The problem was that no one was taking responsibility for the problem or the solution. They were nice about things but the problem just kept growing."

Own it and fix it.

First to comment on David Tames comment. Not to be too disappointing but syncing an Apple address book between two people is a serious challenge. Phew...can't imagine multi-to-multi! (Yes, I recognize a Joke, but sometimes I have to play the straight "man")

I think Linked-In is going to be slow to change. We see the value in social networking and friend sourcing, but a lot of people aren't ready for that kind of openness. They still work the old network style. As long as they have a good customer base like that it is going to be in their best interest to stay a one focus tool - provide employment networking.

I guess I'm somewhat of a social experiment myself as my "professional" presence is on Linked-In at least my old profession, but my new media persona (which really just me) is on Facebook.

So far I've had more people initiate contact with me from LinkedIn, than I have from Facebook. We'll see how that evolves as I do more new media.

This is excellent advice. The only thing I would add is sometimes those "big problems" are really lots of little problems in disguise.

There is a story in the beginning of the book "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott (of which I have probably only read the first chapter). The story is about the author's brother who had a report to do on birds which he left to the last minute. He turned to his father for help, and father agreed to help. The brother asked "How will we get it all done." The answer was: "Bird by bird".

Sometimes when the tasks I have to do look too huge I sometimes take a second look and see if I can do the task "Bird by bird".

I have found that what you are suggesting is essential in today's world. Even though I can run on quite a bit with long words and ornate sentences that really shouldn't be quite so long like this one, (breathe), if I try to put more than one thought in an email I find that 98% of email recipients will not see it.

I have found it is better to send two (somewhat spaced) emails if I actually need to communicate two ideas. Short, to the point and then what you want them to do.

Depending on who it is you may not want a "what you want them to do but an "If I don't hear from you by (some reasonable deadline) then ..." This shouldn't be a threat, but some people seem to need deadlines or some just don't reply if they agree (maybe they thought they replied in their mind I don't know.)

So now that I've gone on much too long to follow the above rules - Short and sweet and to the point gets the results and gets action done.

One option which I've done is to do a particular task on a live broadcast. For example, you can prepare food live. (I will be putting a blog post pointing to that up on my blog shortly if you want to see.) You can even involve the audience, in addition to answering any questions you could also have options on how things are made/prepared and let the audience give input. If done well it can provide people with the live audience experience (that they are the live audience) while being distributed around the world.



Another thing that I always thought would be cool is on a service with co-hosting like Blogtv.com is to have remote conference participation. I wonder if a cohost (or primary host) could present at a conference via the web and get feedback from the other host & the chat room.

Ok, I'm not sure how much I have to add here but here we go. What makes the difference is awareness.

People watch and share videos for different reasons. Maybe it is an interest they have, maybe it was a clever way of presenting things, maybe it just made them feel strongly good/bad/angry/involved/impassioned. Are you aware of what it is about your video that would make someone interested?

By being aware of what people are focused on, or what people in the group you are aiming at are focused on you can get a feel for what will draw them in.

When filming awareness of what effect you are looking for and and what you are putting on the screen can make a difference in the effectiveness of your video. Quick cuts from different angles gives energy, but might not be so great for a romantic love scene. Pets might draw viewers in but if you want people to focus on the speaker having a dog playing in the background isn't going to help.) And be aware of what is on the whole picture (that's why backdrops can be great) The place I first became aware of this was taking photos. I would be focused on what my subject was, but not on the surroundings - then I would look at the picture and go "Oh look, a curtain rod in the middle of the lines of that menorah, ok that picture is useless"

Awareness of the components craft of making video/film can change the quality of your picture. Lights, the sound, the ambient noise, expected noise (foley). And you can fake it a lot of the time. I know my lighting is usually awful, but I can get a half decent 3 point lighting with two clip on lights from Costco and a two part reflective sunshade. This isn't to say I wouldn't like the Lowel light kit that is on my wish list, but it is a step up with the material I have. Foley editing can be fun - we made a short that had a fight scene where a guy's neck is broken, a paper bag being crunched at the right time had everyone grabbing their necks. Knowing what you want can get you half way to having what you want within your budget.

Are you aware of the resources you have, people who would love to help? People with natural talents in the areas you could use help with. That can up the level.

Being aware of the energy and passion of the person in front of the camera is also going to make a difference. When I was doing the live broadcast of making challah the third part (which I forgot to record) had a lot of dead space. I couldn't figure out what was different until I thought about it - I was running out of energy, and it showed on the screen. I suppose this could translate into an awareness of your health. Better health means more endurance and more energy to work with. But I knew you were already aware of that.

It's important to be aware of if you are having fun, and if not why? Sometimes there are tasks that just have to be done, but sometimes something is being gone about the wrong way. (Like the word order of the previous sentence?)

By being aware of your strengths and weaknesses you can take advantage of them, and know where you can grow. This also plays into the above on knowing your resources. We all have our budget of camera, lights, location, people to throw on camera, time, editing software, etc. But you can use your limitations to foster creativity - what you have provides parameters for what you can focus on creating right now and can encourage you to make it the best. Think about the difference between a laser and a flashlight - both are light - but a laser has focus and can be used to cut.

Another thing to be aware of is that it is more important to do and improve than to wait until you have it all down. Don't get caught up in analysis paralysis. Robert Rodriguez says that everyone has 10 bad movies in them, so feel free to get them out of your system. They can be your best teachers if you are aware of what you are seeing in them.

Now I think I'd best go apply this advice to myself :-)

And I look at all this and wonder (in addition to how cool would that be)...how do we secure it so that the wallet isn't lifted, and a restaurant tagging or free power-up doesn't infect your system and make it unreliable or inaccurate.
I still feel like security needs a paradigm shift, but other than sensing the edges of it I don't see it yet - and that makes the securing of the deck hard. Especially because the security should be transparent to the user, yet still protect them. And if it isn't designed in from the beginning, that transparency becomes very hard to do.

Actually if I was going to do a relational db for the addys the first shot at the DB I'd set up a
contacts table with fields for all of the contact info, PLUS a unique ID for each contact.

Then have other tables that are essentially the tags tables VON_t, Podcamp_t, NO_email_t, Boston_t, etc. That table needs to only have the unique ID for each of the contacts that goes in there. (And I stuck the _t there so that it could be easy to have the front-end find all of the tags availble by grabbing all of the table names that end with _t.)

I'd also create a notes table which has an ID field and a text field (for the note) and the ID is the ID of the contact that the note goes to.

(Any other bit of data that you are going to have lots of the same (email addresses) can also be given it's own table like the notes table so you don't end up with email1 email2 email3 etc.)

Then you are not duplicating information and you can pull out subsets doing links between the table doing something like

select contact.email from contact, VON_t
where von.id = contact.id;

You could also add to the query to make sure that anyone in the "NO_email" list is not shown.

And now back to more normal types of comments.

You could check out Now Up To Date Contact. It has keywords and notes and will sync to a palm, and can be shared by multiple users (you can set what categories can be shared too.) They also have keywords that can be used like tags. You can sort and mail by keywords and you can search within the notes and can have multiple notes It can be exported to address book. It is cross platform (windows/mac). It also looks like it has a bunch more features that I don't really use (web services, applescript hook ins, etc.) It might be worth taking a look at.

But whatever you use be sure to make backups!

Software can be found here:
http://www.nowsoftware.com/

Reminds me of my time at a particular company in New Jersey. It didn't matter what you did yesterday: " What have you done for me today?" And most if not all would do any job if it was for enough money. One guy went to Malaysia when his wife was due...it's what the job required.

Where is that company today? Oh, bought out by its competitors.

When you are doing the sale, or getting the pitch don't forget that it is your life and time, and if they choose guilt as their weapon evaluate their claims before you spend all night fixing their mistakes.

That clip could be about some tech project as easily as selling real-estate. Depending on your perspective it can all be commerce the bargaining chip is your life, make sure you are making the choices and not just reacting.

Curators play an important role. (And I've been thinking of writing a bit more on that all Saturday long, when I can't log onto a computer. :-) Scoble pulls a good mix, but by choosing one curator you do limit your view to a particular bias. (Same as if one always watched CNN, or Fox or whatever those other networks out there are.)

I read your blog because you make me think. You ask good questions, you explore interesting ideas. And I also read your blog because I like to know what you are thinking and what you are up to.