Manassy Watch

Why do I continue to Tweet: My Experiences on Twitter

2009-08-24T19:07:00.009-04:00

by Erik Manassy

I have many friends and family ask me constantly why I use Twitter. They usually start by saying, "I don't get it", and "Why are you CONSTANTLY Tweeting?" in a mocking tone. I then encourage them to view this video, Twitter explained in Plain English and then to get an account. I would say that about half the people get it immediately and then the rest finally come around after experimenting.

Once Twitter hit the tipping point this year, you couldn't go anywhere or watch any show without the term "Twitter" being mentioned and then more people starting to come around to me again.

I've had a Twitter account since November 2006. I think I was number 13,000-ish to sign up, and I'll be the first to admit that I didn't get it at first either. I disappeared for a year and then gave it a shot again. I'm glad I did.

I personally have had some exciting things happen because of Twitter:

I was a Panelist on the Jets Blog. I met the blog owner because of Twitter.
I was interviewed by a local Newspaper "The Weekender" talking about Twitter.
I helped rally a group to help save Larry Grantham's Superbowl III Ring. Later receiving a letter from Larry's organization.
I have met MANY MANY great people and built real relationships.

The next bullet just happened tonight. I revealed the new Jersey I purchased for my favorite team, the New York Jets. Big deal you say, but the responses were surprising to me. I started earlier in the week teasing people saying I bought a new Jersey and asked them to guess the number. I then posted more teasers on twitter until people kept asking me when I was going to reveal the number. I was waiting until I got the actual jersey so I could post it on Twitpic and the tweet about it, which I did.

I got a lot of responses immediately most saying they KNEW that I would select the #25 Kerry Rhodes Jersey. What is cool is, the player himself, @kerryrhodes, tweeted me within seconds of my post telling me I made the right choice! Only on Twitter could something like that happen.

What #Jets Jersey did I select? #57, #25, #29, #81 or #6 - Read on....

2009-08-19T09:02:00.003-04:00

by Erik Manassy

I finally made my decision and purchased my Jersey for the new season. Here are the finalists:

#57 Bart Scott (New this year)

#25 Kerry Rhodes (Established Captain of the D)

#29 Leon Washington (Starting to break out)

#81 Dustin Keller (2nd year, solid)

#6 Mark Sanchez (1st Round Rookie)

This is to replace my #4 Brett Favre jersey. This probably was the toughest ever to select a Jersey. I would like a Jersey to last more than two years. I also like the player to be a stud on the field and a decent human being off the field. (Case in point, I would never get a T.O. Jersey etc...)

Of the list below, I would say that the Wayne Chrebet was my favorite jersey to wear next to the McNeil Jersey. I wore that one as a kid until it literally fell off me. I hate to admit this, but you will forgive me as I didn't make the decision, but my first Jersey EVER was not a Jets Jersey. I wore the #32 Franco Harris that my Mom bought me as a tike. "I liked the colors". My Dad resolved that issue immediately!

Here have been the numbers I have worn throughout the years:

#24 Freeman McNeil (1980's)

#54 Marvin Jones (Early 1990's)

#19 Keyshawn Johnson (1997-1999)

#80 Wayne Chrebet (1999-2003) - I wore this one so much, the sleeves turned blue.

#83 Santanna Moss (2003-2004)

#51 Jonathan Vilma (2005-2006)

#10 Chad Pennington (2006-2007)

#4 Brett Favre (2008)

So as you can see, I typically wear an offensive number. This years choices were (3) from the O and (2) from the D.

I'll post the result later and then my choice.... E

Posted via email from Jets Twit

HOW TO: See Twitter Like Someone Else

2009-08-18T09:10:00.000-04:00

Ever wanted to see Twitter the way someone else does, with all the Tweets from the people they follow? Now you can.

The tool cTwitterLike doesn't look particularly impressive with its quirky logo and rough interface but the service is strangely captivating in the way it lets you view Tweets from those being followed by a certain user. What does Twitter look like when @aplusk logs on? How about when @KevinSpacey checks in with his Tweeps?

It's simple to use: enter the Twitter name and you'll see all the latest Tweets from the people that person follows. It's straightforward, but very interesting indeed.

For a complete guide to using Twitter, see The Twitter Guidebook.

AudioBoo Debut

2009-07-09T09:54:00.001-04:00

AudioBoo / Zep

Listen!

Shared via AddThis

"Choose Your Tribe" - by Vitamin C

2009-07-06T22:02:00.001-04:00

Another Reason to Upgrade to iPhone 3.0 OS

2009-06-18T13:12:00.002-04:00

The new iPhone OS 3.0 plugs 46 security holes! Most are through the web framework. Jump over to CNET to read the full article.

By the way, I'm experiencing frequent crashes on 3rd Party applications. I'm assuming that the developers have not upgraded their apps for 3.0 yet. A little frustrating, but at least the core applications work well.

iPhone 3.0 OS Update

2009-06-17T13:32:00.004-04:00

iPhone 3.0 !
Originally uploaded by emanassy

The software became available at 1:15 pm today. The servers' must be getting hammered as it's taking a while for it to complete.

UPDATE 3:15pm: I have the software loaded and it works great. Very easy install. To see all the features the 3.0 Update offers, visit the Apple site.

The feature I'm most impressed with SO FAR, is the spotlight search. What a great addition! I'm sure I'll have more features I like and will post them later.

Testing out SousChef Software

2009-06-14T13:32:00.001-04:00

Buffalo Style Grilled French Cut Chicken Breasts with Blue Cheese Sauce and Jicama and Watermelon Salad

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1/2 cup hot sauce (recommended: Frank's)
2 tablespoons honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 French-cut chicken breasts
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons ground cumin (8 teaspoons)
Canola oil
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus some whole leaves for garnish
1 cup crumbled blue cheese (recommended: Cabrales)

Directions

Preheat the grill to medium; make sure the grill is ready for cooking over indirect heat. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the 2 tablespoons ancho powder and heat for 10 seconds. Stir in hot sauce and honey and season with salt and pepper. Remove about 1/4 cup for garnish, and keep both portions warm.
Season each side of the chicken breasts with 1 teaspoon each ancho powder, and cumin, and the salt and pepper. Drizzle canola oil over the both sides. Grill skin side down over medium heat, uncovered, until the skin is nicely charred.
Flip the chicken, moving it to indirect heat, and brush with a good amount of the hot sauce glaze. Cover and cook, brushing occasionally with sauce, until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Whisk together the heavy cream and creme fraiche in a medium bowl. Stir in the parsley and blue cheese and season with salt and pepper. When chicken is done, remove from the grill and spoon blue cheese sauce over each piece. Drizzle the 1/4 cup reserved glaze over and garnish with whole parsley leaves.

Search, share, and cook your recipes on Mac OS X with SousChef!

Sanchez Poses for GQ: Don't Mess with the Hoff!

2009-05-20T19:15:00.005-04:00

I'm Addicted

2009-05-20T16:04:00.000-04:00

81%

#Maximpact Speakers on Twitter

2009-05-08T15:12:00.001-04:00

11:30am - I am half way into the conference, and here are the speakers from this morning with links to their Twitter accounts:

Linda Kaplan Thaler - @lindathaler & @thepowerofsmall
John C. Maxwell - @johncmaxwell
Kevin Carroll - @kckatalyst
Irene (From Google) - @ireneau

.... More to come.

1:04pm - Afternoon session is starting.

Tony Blair - @tony_blair
Mark Sanborn - @mark_sanborn

Mobile Blogging from here.

Maximum Impact: Liz Murray

2009-05-08T14:32:00.003-04:00

Liz Murray was the first speaker after the lunch break to speak about her rise from being homeless to going to Harvard graduating this June with honors. I have to admit that I wasn't ready for her very moving emotional tale of her childhood and the struggles with her drug addicted parents.

Here is a young woman pouring her heart out to 50,000 people explaining how she got through the struggles in her life and it put many things into perspective, but left me with one phrase:

Cherish Life!

Simple, buy powerful. Most of the things we worry about on a daily basis never compare to the pain Liz endured at an early age.

This was the best session of the day and the conference is still under way. The one thing I'm going to do is be greatful for what I have in my life and know that many people have it worse. Thanks Liz for putting things into perspective!

God bless!

UPDATE on 5/8/2009 - 5:46pm:

I found a full transcript from @zspencer on twitter HERE - http://ow.ly/5R95
She has a movie about her story available for rental on netflix.
Visit her web site: Homeless to Harvard

I'm Going to the Maximum Impact Simulcast

2009-05-07T20:18:00.004-04:00

I'll be taking my leadership team on May 8th for the Maximum Impact Simulcast. This is an opportunity to take my team and "recharge" our batteries and hear some great speakers on the subject of Leadership. The highlight for me is when my Favorite author takes the stage, John C. Maxwell. (Twitter)

2009 Speaker Lineup

Tony Blair
PRE-RECORDED SESSION
Former prime minister of the United Kingdom

Jack Nicklaus
PRE-RECORDED SESSION
Winner of a record 18 major golf championships and voted Sports Illustrated's Individual Male Athlete of the Century

Bill George
Harvard business professor, former Medtronic CEO and author of True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership

John C. Maxwell
Best-selling author, speaker and leadership thought leader

Al Weiss
President of Worldwide Operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

Liz Murray
Inspirational speaker, "Homeless to Harvard"

Linda Kaplan Thaler
CEO & Chief Creative Officer of the Kaplan Thaler Group and author of The Power of Nice

Mark Sanborn
Best-selling author of The Fred Factor and president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc.

Kevin Carroll
Highly-acclaimed author, founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst/LLC and former Nike creative

Ernie Johnson
Professional sports announcer and host of TNT's Emmy award-winning Inside the NBA

TJB20: My .02 on Brian Schottenheimer

2009-04-18T08:17:00.003-04:00

During the recent owners meetings in Dana Point, CA Ryan predicted B-Schott would be his own boss next year. A short question, but lots of thought behind the answers on this one.

Need a second to review the rules and the panelists, check out the introductions. Again, I was asked to be a guest panelist and below is MY answer. If you jump over to the Jets Blog, you will see I'm in the minority that Brian will be a head coach. Most are saying he doesn't have the STUFF.

17) True/False: Brian Schottenheimer will be an NFL head coach at this time next year.

TRUE - He will be a head coach, the guy is a very young talent. He has proven that with the Jets and if Brett didn’t break down, he may be a coach this year. He has proven that he can adjust his offense to the talent making him very flexible and dynamic. Brian went from having to coach Chad and installing an offense that played to his strengths by going with short fast plays. Then he moved on to the fasted gun in the east in Brett Favre and completely changed the offense to play to Brett’s strengths. The guy is a winner and he will be a successful head coach in this league next year!

To read the full article, jump over to the Jets Blog.

TJB20: My Opinion on Jay Cutler

2009-04-07T20:38:00.004-04:00

3) Given what the cost was for Jay Cutler (two first rounders and a third along with Kyle Orton in return for Jay Cutler and a fifth rounder) do you make a similar trade if you are the Jets?

Absolutely NOT! I thought that two first rounders were a lot, but to give up the 1st this year, the 1st 2010, Kellen Clemens and a third is a lot for a kid who is proven and young BUT also known as a problem child. The kid is immature, needs a lot of growing up to do and I hear that once a player goes down as having a reputation as “ME and only me”, it rubs the team the wrong way… Players don’t want to be in the trenches with someone like that. Mel Kiper warned us about this problem during the year he was drafted. He NAILED it and the Bears organization has their work cut out for them. Give me leadership and a weak arm (Chad, whom we should have never waived) over a gun and attitude any day (Cutler)!

Click Here to read the full article.

I am a Jet TJB20 Panelist

2009-04-06T19:50:00.009-04:00

I was asked and I am honored to be amongst some great panelist talking about the state of the New York Jets on the blog: thejetsblog.com. Every day, two of the twenty questions asked to the twenty panelists will be featured on the blog.

The Jets Blog Description of the feature:

With last week’s widely publicized G20 Meetings in London, we thought it would be fun to convene the TJB20. In this inaugural edition, we’ve culled the thoughts of NFL Columnists, Jets beat reporters, bloggers, founders of online fan communities and typical Jets fans.

Here is my introduction from the site:

Erik Manassy (@e_man) Crazy Season Ticket Holder: Erik (e_man) is a gadgetphile who enjoys messing with Kerry Rhodes on Twitter. Manassy is a dedicated Jets fan, and a season ticketholder for many years. Erik is also a diehard Mets fan, who bought seats from Shea.

Again, twenty panelists have been asked from organizations such as:

SNY
NBC Sports
Newsday
Jetnation.com
TheJetsBlog
Jets Insider Magazine
Gang Green Nation
and others, click HERE to see the full list.

Be sure to check in every day to see if my posts are featured for the days topic. Thanks to Bassett from the Jets Blog for asking me to participate.

Opening Day: Let's Go Mets!

2009-04-06T13:46:00.005-04:00

I am SO glad the new season is here! The Mets open their year with the Reds away. (Hopefully they get the game in) I'm still working on getting opening day tickets but there is NO way I'm paying those prices.

By the way, if you are an iPhone owner and have the MLB lite application, UPGRADE NOW. For $9.99, the audio feature is well worth the cost. It has all the features that the lite has but adds both teams feeds. I started listening in my car, through the parking lot and into the office without missing a beat.

Let's Go Mets!

Testing New Blog Software

2009-04-02T08:27:00.002-04:00

Trying new iPhone software to blog from the road. The software is called "BlogPress" and is pretty reasonable for $2.99.

-- Post From My iPhone

A Few Ways to Monetize Twitter

2009-03-23T12:37:00.002-04:00

1224
Originally uploaded by emanassy

I thought this was well done by the folks of The Joy of Tech (thejoyoftech.com)

We are the Champions, sort of...

2009-03-07T14:02:00.015-05:00

Well, it has been MANY MANY years since the last time I have attended a cub scout pine wood derby race. The last race was probably in 1982 and I was a nine year old youngster running my own car.

Today, I broke that gap by attending with my son, David, six years of age. We designed the NY Jets car, as most of you know from my gazillion photo's of posts talking about it on facebook, twitter, and flickr.

Twenty nine cars were registered and the age group raged from six yrs old to twelve yrs old. The levels were Tigers, Bobcats, Wolves, and Weblo's in that order. They ran four heats with the winner of each competing to have a final three. Then they ran one heat per level and then all the 1st place winners raced each other to become the fourth spot in the final race of the day.

Well, here is how are car faired:

Race 1: Finished 2nd of 4
Race 2: Finished 3rd of 4
Race 3: Finished Dead Last
Race 4: Finished 2nd of 4

So, it was NOT looking good, and my son was basically ticked off and giving me a look like he wanted to tell me off! ;)

Race 5: (The Tiger Level Race) - We win 1st Place!
Race 6: (The right to go the championship) - We are one race from the superbowl. So how did we finish? DEAD LAST!

At the end of the day, my son walked away with a 1st place medal for the tiger heat. He came up short for the grand prize and the chance to go to Districts, but overall we had a great day.

I spent the entire car ride telling him after his disappointment that it's ok not to win, but he has to be a good loser. His response: I'm sick of winning all these Medals!, I want a trophy. I respond: 24 kids walked away with nothing, and he goes, oh... ok I'll take the medal. Man oh man, as a youngster, I was happy with a ribbon.

#followfriday Was good to me on March 6, 2009

2009-03-07T07:46:00.005-05:00

E_MAN STATS

Originally uploaded by emanassy

Thank you everyone who mentioned me in your #followfriday posts! As you can see it paid off! I had 108 new followers on one day, a personal best!

Thanks to:

@hyermish
@TheOtherJeff @cindymillerati
@SKILLETfan01
@ricklafave (2 times)
@allmorgan
@chrisabraham
@jgaylord
@fightingzero
@jasonpercival
@karla_porter
@ayshneck

If you would like to know more about what #followfriday is, read this great explanation from Mashable.com.

The NY Jets PineWood Derby Car

2009-03-06T09:43:00.001-05:00

IMG_0769
Originally uploaded by emanassy

@e_man 's Interview with "The Weekender"

2009-02-26T10:10:00.008-05:00

I recently was interviewed by "The Weekender", NEPA's number 1 Arts Entertainment Weekly magazine. The cover story is about Twitter, entitled, "What's all the Twittering About?". To read it in its entirety, click over to "The Weekender".

I was contacted by the reporter via Twitter and was asked if I was interested. Any time I get to bloviate, I'm game! I'm cool with how I was quoted, but they got my name misspelled. It's usually the last name they butcher, but it's all good.

Here are some of my personal quotes:

“Twitter is a different animal because it’s a micro-blogging tool, and because it forces you to post 140 characters at a time; it’s nothing like any of the other sites,” said frequent “tweeter” Erik Manassy (e_man), 35, of Hawley.

“I think of Facebook as people I personally know, and Twitter as people I have never met but are getting to know,” Manassy said. “I have pockets of people I interact with depending on the topic. If I talk Jets, the same 10 or so converse with me. Once I go tech, another pocket talk, and if I talk about local events, again, a pocket of local peeps interact. It is really cool!”

What do people tweet?

While a good chunk of Tweeple, especially newbies, tweet about where they are and what they are doing, Twitter-ers post links to interesting articles, pictures, motivational quotes and even breaking news. Manassy likes to post about the Jets, and since he works in IT for a health company, he uses Twitter to ask questions about software he’s evaluating.

Again, to read the full article, click on over to "The Weekender".

My Rewarding Experience

2009-02-20T14:29:00.010-05:00

As most of you know, I'm a huge Jets fan and a frequent user of Twitter. Two weeks ago, the all knowing Jets Freak, Bassett from "The Jets Blog" posted tweet linking to a story about Larry Grantham and his Superbowl III Ring being up for auction. It was entitled PLEASE READ and it did it's trick, it caught my attention.

Larry Grantham had fallen on rough times concerning his health, and his medical bills were racking up. Without the knowledge of his friends or family, he contacted an auction firm and put up his prize possession up for sale. Bassett and others were rallying the troops to see if we could raise the money needed to buy the ring back for Larry.

The first thing I did was contact "Freedom House Foundation", the firm collecting donations on Larry's behalf and made a personal financial contribution. You see, Larry had been an alcoholic for a portion of his life, and I had read he had personally raised awareness and funds in excess of a Million dollars to help that foundation. The least we could do is return the favor. Larry never asked for help, yet people were willing to do it and they did in droves.

I had heard rumors that the Jets organization caught wind of this story and could have been responsible for getting the ring back. If this is the case, my hats off to the Jets organization and it's ownership. It was the "RIGHT" thing to do. I also knew that a current Jets player, Kerry Rhodes used twitter and I had tweeted him while he was at the Pro-Bowl. His response was awesome:

"wen is it needed and how much is it"

The lesson I got out of this is whenever you have the ability, help out the less fortunate without looking for an award. I wasn't expecting anything for my part in helping with the awareness of the issue, but when I got a letter from Larry thanking me, it made me feel VERY GOOD.

I have since purchased the card I show in this story and I plan to frame the letter and the card and hang it on my wall as reminder to myself that when I can, help those in need.

Poll Results: Do you use Twitter?

2009-02-18T13:08:00.003-05:00

http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/10730/ahqdj

I ran a poll on LinkedIN in November of 2008. Only 20 people responded, but here are the results.

Shea Stadium Control Room Tour

2009-01-11T12:46:00.001-05:00

Mets-Shea-ControlRoom - 05
Originally uploaded by emanassy

I had the opportunity this summer to visit the control room that handles the scoreboards, video's, public announcer, and final the Shea Homerun Apple. The picture in this post is the control panel for the Apple.

Books I have Read in 2009

2009-01-01T22:01:00.022-05:00

January (3)

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us - Seth Godin
Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization - Dave Logan
Twitter Revolution - Warren Whitlock (Currently Reading)

The Shea Seats have Arrived!

2009-01-01T21:05:00.012-05:00

My seats arrived on New Years Eve and I was very surprised to see this enormous box on my porch. After asking my wife what she bought, I decided to crack open the box and FORGOT that my seats were due any day. After the butt kicking I got from her for accusing her of buying something, I decided to lug in the ninety-five pound box with still no clue of what was inside.

The combination of the holiday craziness with the loss of the Jets game put my mind in another world until I put my eyes on those freshly painted brackets holding up the nasty dirty grungy seats. I was in heaven!

My wife could not understand my giddiness and I told her to imagine she was looking at a new diamond ring. So now, the seats are sitting in my formal living room waiting to be mounted in my basement. Did I forget to mention that I have not started work on the "sports den", so they probably will be going back into the box for storage. Plan B is to convince my wife to have them mounted next to my bed but I'm not holding my breath.

I love my new original Shea Stadium, New York Mets seats! I have a lot of memories at Shea Stadium and I know these seats will be a nice conversationalist piece. Most importantly, it will be the way I watch Mets games in front of a big screen TV (I need to get this as well).

Let's go Mets!

To see the full set of pictures, visit my Flickr Account.

Flickr

2008-12-23T19:55:00.002-05:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Listen up Jets, All I Want for Christmas is...

2008-12-22T12:34:00.015-05:00

.... a win of course, but for a reason other than the obvious division title and playoff trip.

The story starts in the pre-season at my office in Wilkes-Barre, PA one fine summer morning when the usual coffee talk started about the Football. This day I happened to be talking to a Dolphins fan who was talking a lot of smack and how the Phins' were going to take care of business, win the division and just kick the Jets Butts.

You have to understand my laughter as thoughts of the disfunctional squad of rejects who finished the previous year with 1-15 danced in my head. On top of that, they just acquired Chad Pennington and we Brett Favre. I'm feeling good because we have acquired the QB god out of his so called retirement, and just like every other crazed fan, I went out and bought 1 of 10,000 jerserys sold that night with the announcement. I think Chad sold an even 10.

I let the kool-aide drinking fan go a little more, and then I challenged him! I told him to put his money where his mouth was but not in the way that is so typical.

The challenge is the following:

The Jets and Dolphins sqaure off the first game of the season, September 7th, and the last game of the season, December 28th, creating a "Book End" season. Whatever team SWEEPS the series, the loser has to purchase an authentic customized jersey with their last name on the back and the number of the jersey has to be double zeros ("00"). On top of this, the jersey must be hung on the wall of the cubicle for the entire 2009 season. Everytime there is a company dress down day, which includes the company picnic, the loser must wear the Jersey. If the series splits, the bet is off.

As you are aware, the Jets won the first game. If the Jets win this Sunday, I win the bet.

So, as much as it would pain me to see the Patriots OR the Dolphins win the division, the Jets can make this dedicated DIE-HARD Jets fan happy by winning this game and for the 2009 season. Jets, take care of your business, and let's root for Buffalo (so we can win the division) and/or root for the Jags to defeat the Ravens (so we can make the playoffs). Any other win after this is icing on the cake because you have many leaks in the defense and I don't see us going far in the post season.

Oh, and all you dolphins fans out there, if you do make it to the playoffs, please see the picture below. Keep drinking the Kool Aide!

If the Jets lose this game, and want to be ammused by my rants, follow me on Twitter.

Testing Twitter Feed

2008-12-10T14:21:00.002-05:00

I'm testing out the link to post my blog to twitter using twitter feed. I'm sorry for the spam tweet. thx-

David is Selling POPCORN for Tiger Cubs

2008-11-07T10:13:00.003-05:00

Click to ENLARGE for Pricing. If interested in ordering, contact me at erik@manassy.com with your order. Thanks!

Gartner: Pocket Power: The Annual Update on Mobile Devices

2008-10-14T08:11:00.005-04:00

I'm in my first session about mobile devices and supporting them in the enterprise. These charts says it all:

Vote for Fighting Zero to be the Opening Act for Motley Crue!

2008-09-24T15:13:00.002-04:00

The Rest of the New York Mets Schedule

2008-09-17T15:51:00.004-04:00

Fighting Zero Video

2008-09-05T12:10:00.005-04:00

I went to Crue Fest 2008 this past weekend and the opening band on the "Weekender" Stage was Fighting Zero. I happen to know the lead singer of the band, Scott VanFossen, and had his permission to tape the entire show. Here is one of their songs, "Horror Show".

You can buy their self titled EP from iTUNES.

UPDATE: 9/6/2008 - I'm in the process of finalizing the entire show and will have that available for download soon. Check back here for more info.

Horror Show from Crue Fest: August 30, 2008

2008-07-24T07:29:00.001-04:00

Back in the office.

2008-07-23T08:50:00.001-04:00

Out of the office today.

Let's Try this again

2008-07-07T12:09:00.001-04:00

This is a slick service.

2008-07-06T19:12:00.001-04:00

Testing a post from ping.fm

Hazleton Mine Subsidence Update after the Weekend

2008-04-14T21:28:00.002-04:00

My wife's uncle's propane tank fell in one of the holes over the weekend: NOT GOOD. I saw him over the weekend on Saturday morning and as expected he was not in good spirits. We are waiting it out to see if the holes are going to stop spreading. The work to fill them in started today.

Here is a clip from the Standard Speaker describing the tank incident:

A propane tank ruptured Saturday afternoon at the rear of 2 Smith Drive in Drifton as a hole caused by mine subsidence widened even more.
The 100-gallon gas tank fell into the hole and ruptured, according to Hazle Township Fire Chief Scott Kostician, causing emergency crews to take more safety precautions until the propane drained from the tank.
“If the propane gas tank ignites while it is draining out we will be on it with water hoses. That’s why we are standing by just in case it happens,” Kostician said.
The smell of the gas was evident throughout the neighborhood and downwind from the scene, located along Route 940 just south of the Drifton Curve.

Newspaper

Going Under - Standard Speaker - 4/13/2008
2 more mine holes open up - The Times Leader - 4/14/2008
Cave-in repairs to begin today - Standard Speaker - 4/14/2008

Mine Subsidence Update: The Hole is Growing!

2008-04-12T08:06:00.008-04:00

It appears that the hole is spreading into the back yards. Taken from the article below:

"This is really scary because we keep noticing little things,” said Margaret Pecile, owner of 2 Smith Drive. "Like if you take a look at the steps by our front porch, you’ll notice that there is a black strip beginning to form behind the steps. That’s because they are actually starting to sink."
At the home she shares with her husband, Robert, the hole undermined a patio and has caused huge cracks and forced part of the wall to shift away from the house. A similar incident happened during a 1979 subsidence in the area.

Newspapers

Subsidence grows; fears persist - The Standard Speaker - 4/12/2008

Twitter in Plain English

2008-04-11T18:24:00.001-04:00

Hazleton Mine Subsidence Information

2008-04-11T08:35:00.015-04:00

On Wednesday evening, April 9th, I was watching the evening news and was surprised to discover that the mine subsidence that happened earlier that day occurred on my wife's relatives property After getting on the phone, we had learned everyone was ok, but the house was condemned and the situation went from bad to worse during the day.

The local media is covering this as their top story and every morning so far, I have been waking up to see their house, current status, and cameos from my relatives. My grandfather-in-law was on WBRE, the morning addition (see thumbnail). I also found Margie's picture in the Times Leader (black and white photo). Robert is in the photo below in the red jacket.

View Larger Map

As I discover more information, I'll post it to my blog.

Television Stations

"Subsidence Threatens Two Homes" - WNEP - 4/9/2008
"Mine Subsidence in Hazle Township" - WBRE - 4/9/2008
"Subsidence Damages Homes, Threatens Road & Gas Line" - [VIDEO] WBRE - 4/9/2008
"No Work on Subsidence Until Next Week" - WNEP - 4/10/2008
"Subsidence Threatening Natural Gas Line" - [VIDEO] WBRE - 4/10/2008

Newspapers

"Subsidence hits home again" - The Times Leader - 4/11/2008
"Subsidence displaces 2 families" - The Times Leader - 4/11/2008
"Closing of Rt. 940 taking toll on drivers" - Standard Speaker - 4/11/2008
"Homeowners on edge" - Standard Speaker - 4/11/2008
"Moving on" - Standard Speaker - 4/11/2008
"Two Hazle Twp. homes condemned after mine subsidence..." - The Citizens Voice - 4/11/2008

Band of Brothers

2008-03-30T16:09:00.007-04:00

For those of you who know me, you realize I'm an avid follower of WWII and specifically I like to follow the european theater. Whenever I get the opportunity, I'm either reading a new book, watching a documentary on the history channel or viewing my many DVDs. My tivo is typically stocked with 50+ shows dedicated to WWII as well. Needless to say, I'm never short of satisfying my need to catch up on WWII.

Today, I was watching the "Band of Brothers", the acclaimed mini-series by HBO, and was pondering about the leadership and bravery of the men of easy company. I always find myself saying to my father that one of these days we will plan our trip to Europe and walk in the footsteps of these amazing men.

So, I decided to do some research and came upon this tour from G-2 Associates, LLC. The tour date is a little short notice as it is in June of this year. It is doubtful that I will attend this trip, but I will now use this as a reminder to my father and will officially put this on my to do list to attend a trip within the next 1-2 years.

Links:

Mets Opening Day 2008

2008-03-30T14:58:00.006-04:00

I'm looking forward to the start of the season for the Mets tomorrow against the Marlins. The game is on TV: SNY | Radio: WFAN 660, WADO 1280 starting at 4:10pm est. I'll be able to Tivo the game and catch up live. Let's Go Mets! The Mets lineup is the following:

1. SS Jose Reyes

2. 2B Luis Castillo

3. 3B David Wright

4. CF Carlos Beltran

5. 1B Carlos Delgado

6. LF Angel Pagan

7. RF Ryan Church

8. C Brian Schneider

9. RHP Johan Santana

I'm Back.

2008-03-29T08:21:00.004-04:00

It has been quite a while since I have updated my blog. I guess I didn't have anything to say for over a year, but decided to come back to this space.

What prompted me to start up again was actually Twitter. I never was really an active blog user, but recently got into tweeting with the micro-blogging tool Twitter. I noticed that almost every user had a link to their blog and saw that if I needed to expand on a certain tweet, I can now use this medium.

If I have something to say about technology, it will be posted here.

DOWNLOAD SQUAD: Mobile Google Talk with Java: Talkonaut

2006-11-21T13:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, I downloaded the application to my Razr and followed the instructions. When I tried to run the application, it says that I need to grant the network access. It gives me this error message on my phone with only one option, quit. OK, so I went to the web site for a look at FAQ's and their forum. NOTHING. Test over. I'm sure when it works, it looks cool, but after 10 minutes of fiddeling with this, I'll pass.
I was going to try this on my Treo 700w and found out it wasn't supported.

Mobile Google Talk with Java
from Download Squad by Chris Gilmer

Filed under: Internet, Google, P2P Want to stay in touch with your Google Talk friends and contacts while on the go? Check out Talkonaut. It's a Java-based client that can be added onto your mobile phone, giving you access to your contacts on Google Talk or any Jabber network. You can choose to have Talkonaut send you an SMS with a download address, or go directly to get.talkonaut.com to download it. The download took about 1 minute for me. The application will work on pretty much all popular J2ME handsets, and there is a list of compatible units on their website. You will need a data plan to use the Talkonaut service since it does establish a TCP/SSL connection.Even though Google Talk supports VoIP, this free Java client only supports instant messages, so no free voice calls yet.

MyESPN Personalized Sports Page

2006-11-17T21:56:00.000-05:00

A personalized sports experience with MyESPN from ESPN.com by ESPN.com news services

Get your daily sports content the way you want it. Customize your teams and scores. Personalize your page theme and layout. Try MyESPN now.

I was reading my RSS Reader and saw this message from ESPN. I clicked on the link and it remembered my favorite sports from a profile I must have filled out a long time ago. Here is the page that loaded:

Download Squad: Yahoo! buys MyBlogLog, Bix

2006-11-17T21:44:00.000-05:00

Reposted from Download Squad by Jordan Running

Hey, big spender. Today Yahoo! shelled out for not one, but two companies: MyBlogLog, a social networking site for bloggers and their readers, and Bix, a social contest service. Neither purchase price has been announced, though rumors say $10 million for MyBlogLog. I'm a big fan of MyBlogLog, which allows people to build communities around their blogs and, through a tracking code snippet, also collects salient statistics like which links your visitors clicked on the most and where they came from. Bix I wasn't familiar with until today, but the concept is interesting: It allows anybody to create an online contest that their friends (or anyone) can enter for, say, cutest cat or best lip-sync video.

TechCrunch has the scoop on the MyBlogLog acquisition, which I think makes perfect sense next to its social services Flickr and del.icio.us, and of course its search business. The New York Times has the details on Bix, which it says is is "trying to capitalize on two trends in popular culture: the fascination with TV shows like 'American Idol' and the explosion in user-generated online content, especially video." I'm not sure how well Bix fits in with Yahoo!'s current lineup, but if executed correctly it could be huge.

O'Reilly Radar: Web 2.0 Conference Thoughts

2006-11-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

This is one conference I tried to attend this year, but overlapped with the Portal, Collaboration, and Content Conference. Plus, I think this was INVITE only.

Web 2.0 Conference Thoughts
By Brady Forrest on November 15, 2006

On Friday, the Radar team got together to discuss the Web 2.0 Summit. Here were some of our thoughts:

We saw lots of features rather than products: There were fewer full company launches and more features being added. Is this a sign of the market being more mature or that more companies are hoping for an acquisition rather than an IPO?

Commercial penetration is chasing users away: It was noted that MySpace's traffic was down from the previous month. We're wondering if this is a sign of users running away from monetization. Will there be a continuous migration of users away from properties as they try to capitalize on their success?

We see increasing intersection of the physical world with internet sevices. This came up in 3 places. Fedex, Salesforce, and Amazon. Jeff Bezos pointed out that not only Amazon's servers but also their logistics infrastructure is for rent, with Fulfillment by Amazon. (Tim promptly christened this service S4 - Simple Storage Service for Stuff).

User's data: This was also a recurring theme starting with Wesabe's Marc Hedlund's Open Data Workshop. We heard about it again from Google's Eric Schmidt when he said that he supported user's being able to take their data with them. SixApart put forward the Open Media Profile (think GData, + OpenSearch + Media RSS) to allow users transport their data between services. These will continue.

The entrepenaurs were in the hallways: We noticed and we heard that a lot of action was in the hallways (and a conference room). We're going to work on that for next year. We'd like to have more of them in the room with the rest of the conference.

Teen panels get people out of their world: The teen panel was regarded by many as the most refreshing piece of the conference. We get trapped in our blog-nonMySpace world. It's good to get that wake-up call every so often. The panel loved Google, MySpace, YouTube and didn't seem to care which browser they used. No other properties made a noticeable dent across all of the panelists.

There was a similar wake-up call at Widgets Live earlier in the week. Photobucket asked how many users were in the room compared to Flickr; the crowd was overwhelmingly Flickred unlike the rest of the internet. It's good to remember that the success of these companies is not entirely dependent on their geek chic cred.

Great, summarized quotes:
"Users want speed" - Marissa Mayer

"Don't listen to investment bankers" - Bob Parsons Interesting developments:
intel's Suite Two - bringing blogs, wikis and RSS to the enterprise 6A's Open Media Profile- being able to share my data between services is something that I have wanted for ages.

Digg's visualizations - will any of these come close to replacing the homepage?

The Stikkit (clever stickie notes from our own Rael Dornfest), Klostu (social network and ID system for message boards), and Adify (an ad platform for ad networks) launches were the most notable in our book.

Live Labs' Photosynth - just a viewer right now, but it holds amazing potenial for organizing and viewing photos

Interesting coverage

Evhead on Barry Diller's talk
Greg Linden
Read/Write Web
Gigaom
John Battelle on Eric Schmidt

Technorati

2006-11-16T22:42:00.000-05:00

Technorati Profile

Audio: Maximum Impact - The Laws of Lifetime Growth

2006-11-16T20:28:00.000-05:00

I am currently listening to this audio from Maximum Impact (Dr. John C. Maxwell). He is by far one of my favorite authors on the subject of Leadership.

I reccomend a subscription to this CD resource as it is always outstanding.

The Laws of Lifetime Growth

Track #1: Introduction

Track#2: Law#1-Future vs. Past

Track#3: Law#2-Contribution vs. Reward

Track#4: Law#3-Performance vs. Applause

Track#5: Law#4-Gratitude vs. Success

Track#6: Law#5-Cooperation vs. Status

Track#7: Law#6-Purpose vs. Money

Sync your Google Calendar with your cell phone

2006-11-13T16:03:00.000-05:00

This looks cool, but I need to make sure my device supports it.
Sync your Google Calendar with your cell phone
from Lifehacker

GooSync synchronizes your Google Calendar with your cell phone or PDA. It's a free service, and it works with all phones that support SyncML (which most do).

To see if it'll work with your phone, check GooSync's supported devices page. Palm and Windows Mobile PDA users will need to download a special applet that performs the synchronization process.

GooSync

Listen to podcasts from your phone

2006-11-13T16:00:00.000-05:00

I thought this was a pretty cool feature. Got this from Lifehacker.

Listen to podcasts from your phone
from Lifehacker

Web site Podlinez assigns a phone number to any podcast, meaning that you can listen to the latest episode of your favorite podcast any time you want; you just need to dial your podcast's number.
The numbers aren't toll free, so you'll want to keep an eye on the length of the podcasts you listen to with Podlinez, but I love the idea that you don't have to download anything to listen to the podcast. The service already has phone numbers for several popular podcasts, such as This American Life, The Economist, and Boing Boing. If your favorite podcast doesn't already have a number, just enter the feed URL and get one. Be sure to check out the keyboard shortcuts for fast-forwarding and rewinding. — Adam Pash
Podlinez [via TechCrunch]

Pictures from the Conference In Boston

2006-11-10T22:05:00.000-05:00

USS Cassin Young (DD-793), World War II Destroyer

Outside my room at the Intercontinental

Utilitiy: Stikkit

2006-11-10T10:42:00.000-05:00

www.stikkit.com
Here is how it is explained from their official Site:

The way notes should work.
Stikkit gives you the digital equivalent of a sticky note: the easiest thing you can grab to jot down an idea or reminder. As you type, Stikkit watches for appointments, to-dos, people, bookmarks and more, magically extracting and organizing the important details. It's like having a personal assistant following along after you.

Involve the people in your life.
Work on a project with a colleague. Bridge the home/work divide with your spouse. Comment on a stikkit to start an ongoing discussion. People are interconnected — your organizer should be too.

Everywhere you are.
Email Stikkit. Keep a blank stikkit at the ready on your desktop. Get reminders on your mobile phone. The best productivity tool is the one that's right there when you need it.

Google Cheat Sheet

2006-11-09T15:23:00.001-05:00

Great PDF that shows you a snapshot of all the google URLs and types of services they offer with clickable links.

Portal, Collaboration, Content Conference Notes

2006-11-08T09:20:00.000-05:00

I'm at the Portal, Collaboration, Content Conference in Boston MA. I'll be providing links to the PDF files for the team to review:

Day 1 - Wednesday 11/08/2006

Keynote Speaker: PDF: Colin White My Notes: Erik Manassy
Intranet 2.0: PDF: Gilroy My Notes: Erik Manassy Updated Slides on Flickr
Collaboration in the age of the Enterprise Workplace: Quirk My Notes: Erik Manassy
Search and Search Analytics: Shell My Notes: Erik Manassy

Day 2 - Thursday 11/09/2006

The Use of Organized Network Analysis in Portal and CM Projects: Connecting People and Content: Seth Earley My Notes: Erik Manassy
Shared Insights 6th Annual Portal Excellent Awards Ceremony
Keynote Panel: Understanding the Technologies and Products.
VERY GOOD - Connecting a Portal to Enterprise Applications: Colin White My Notes: Erik Manassy
SOA for the Real World: Dale Tuttle My Notes: Erik Manassy

Day 3 - Friday 11/10/2006

VERY GOOD - Portal Governance: Designing, Implementing and Evolving Your Knowledge Management Systems: Zach Wahl My Notes: Erik Manassy
From Marketing to Operations: How an ECM Delivers Results Across the Enterprise - Kristen Yeradi My Notes: Erik Manassy
Using Workflow to Suport Buiness Processes - Colin White My Notes: Erik Manassy

Gartner Symposium ITxPo 2006 in Orlando

2006-10-08T22:22:00.000-04:00

I arrived in Orlando on Sunday. Planning to start with the following sessions tomorrow:

Web 2.0 Beyond the Buzz: What's Real, What's Not
Software as a Service: The Myth and Promise of No Software

I'll post more during the day.

Interview: Can Userplane Help Transform AOL?

2006-09-21T15:35:00.000-04:00

Interview: Can Userplane Help Transform AOL?: "In August AOL acquired online communications startup Userplane - which runs a suite of chat, IM, A/V Recorder, search and presence tools. AOL is in the midst of a big shift in businenss models - from closed 'walled garden', to a more open, web services-driven portal offering. For example AOL is to end its reliance on dial-up subscription fees and offer its e-mail service for free. It will also grow its online advertising revenues, to become more like its rivals Yahoo, Google and MSN. So what impact will Userplane and its nimble startup values have on the giant AOL? As it was put to me in an introductory email from Userplane: 'Though small, Userplane is poised to have a big impact on AOL, because it already does what the old AOL could not. Positioned as 'the open arm of AOL,' the company provides Web-based instant messaging and live audio/visual chat to more than 100,000 online communities, from the behemoth that is MySpace to the tiniest niche online dating site. What's more, Userplane already delive"

Fox Punishes Non-DVR Users With Static Image Instead Of A TV Commercial

2006-09-21T15:25:00.000-04:00

Fox Punishes Non-DVR Users With Static Image Instead Of A TV Commercial: "It really was just last week that we talked about a guy who got a patent for putting a static image in TV commercials that could be seen as you fast forwarded with your DVR. It seems like the patent holder might want to call on Fox, who apparently is now running commercials that are a single static image for 30 seconds, with the goal of reaching DVR users. Of course, you have to imagine that's only going to bore the regular viewers to tears (though, they do include audio for those folks). Of course, none of this matters if you happen to have a DVR that has a 'skip forward' feature anyway. Either way, it seems like the TV execs are still focused on the wrong thing: figuring out how to force DVR users to watch traditional commercials, rather than figuring out ways to deliver advertising that doesn't piss people off so much that they want to skip it."

360 COD2 breaches sales mark

2006-09-13T14:22:00.000-04:00

360 COD2 breaches sales mark: "Next-gen Xbox version of Call of Duty answered more than 1 million times in North America since its release; first Xbox 360 game to reach mark, says Activision."

EBay Sellers Go Back to School: 10 Tips

2006-09-08T11:47:00.000-04:00

EBay Sellers Go Back to School: 10 Tips: "Several recent academic studies have centered on the behavior of eBay buyers. See how the information gathered can help you sell for more "

Unpacking Amazon's Unbox Video Service

2006-09-08T11:46:00.000-04:00

Unpacking Amazon's Unbox Video Service: "The Internet retailer's new online video offering has (down)loads of content and quality, but there are still obstacles to overcome "

Digg Changes May've Increased Quality, But Digg Community Is In Turmoil

2006-09-08T11:35:00.000-04:00

Digg Changes May've Increased Quality, But Digg Community Is In Turmoil: "This week there's been turmoil in the Digg world, as the Digg developers strive to reduce the influence of the top users - in other words make the system fairer. As Kevin Rose recently wrote, their aim is that 'a more diverse pool of individuals will be need to deem the story homepage-worthy'. However this has caused an uproar amongst Digg's top users, who feel they have been accused of gaming. Apparently most of Digg's top 20-30 users have refused to contribute or digg stories since the uproar happened. Or if they have dugg stories, they've been buried by other users - check out this short thread for an example. This is a serious upheaval amongst the Digg community - and it's begun to affect the discussions. In this digg thread, a top digger named Digital Gopher gets a very hard time: And see this recent Digg thread entitled Top Digg Users Removing Avatars Hired by Netscape, which links to http://americanhistory.about.com/od/traitors/. Heavy stuff. I'm told that the (non-public) forum for the t"

Webified Desktop Apps vs Browser-based Apps

2006-09-07T09:21:00.000-04:00

Webified Desktop Apps vs Browser-based Apps: "Written by Ebrahim Ezzy and edited by Richard MacManus. Ebrahim runs a search engine called Qube - which is a webified desktop app. Richard's Note: In some ways Ebrahim's conclusions in this article contradict my own views, but I think that makes it even more appropriate for Read/WriteWeb to publish. I'm looking forward to a robust discussion by readers in the comments section! More and more applications these days are being webified - meaning 'made to operate on the Web using a browser or made to function in a similar manner.' This is because the Internet is capable of significantly augmenting human interaction, with its decentralized system of ubiquitous data accessibility. WebOS, the remote desktop We've already seen a wealth of desktop-replicated web applications in the web 2.0 space - office suites, calenders, task management. A webtop (derived from 'desktop') pushes that replication to its limit. Also known as a WebOS, it is basically a virtual desktop on the web. It is a simple, less bloated, less featured and remotely accessible oper"

The Web Photo Sharing Site Faceoff

2006-09-06T16:28:00.000-04:00

The Web Photo Sharing Site Faceoff: "Written by Alex Iskold and edited by Richard MacManus. In this post we profile the red hot photo sharing space, where the blogosphere darling Flickr is actually trailing in the mass market. Back in June, Hitwise posted their online photo market statistics - which showed Photobucket with a huge market lead at #1 and Flickr at #6. A lot of Photobucket's lead is due to its high usage in MySpace pages - 56% of Photobucket's traffic is from MySpace, according to Hitwise. So marketing and being part of a large ecosystem are crucial. But also important is having simple and easy to use features. So we present here a feature-by-feature comparison and also highlight areas where particular services stand out from the pack. Feature Comparison of Photo Sharing Sites In the table below (which incidentally we did using Zoho Sheet, Zoho's online spreadsheet) we list companies from the Hitwise article as well as some additional 'web 2.0' photo sharing players. Click for full-size table Note that for Alexa rank we highlighted the top 5 scores - Flickr, Photobucket,"

Apple, Amazon to Unveil Movie Downloads

2006-09-06T14:42:00.000-04:00

Apple, Amazon to Unveil Movie Downloads: "Apple and Amazon are set to unveil their widely anticipated efforts to get consumers to buy or rent movies over the Internet. "

Caller ID Spoofing On The Rise?

2006-09-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

Caller ID Spoofing On The Rise?: "Caller ID spoofing certainly isn't new, but it seems to be getting more and more attention these days, with stories such as this one, from Memphis, where an older guy says he received spoofed messages complaining about him cutting his grass early in the morning. The messages looked like they came from a neighbor across the street, but she was away at work at the time. When the neighbor called BellSouth to complain, the company told her about a particular caller-ID spoofing service. Who's to blame for the apparent growth? Perhaps Paris Hilton. She's no stranger to spoofing, as it was used to hack her voicemail last year, but apparently lately she's been using a spoofing service herself, as one recently terminated her account after she used it to enter other people's voicemail -- reportedly as part of her ongoing feud with fellow overexposed celebrity Lindsay Lohan, though Hilton's people have denied the whole thing. All the interest seems to make just one thing inevitable: that caller ID spoofing will eventually be banned."

New Russian Law May Make Life Difficult For Allofmp3.com

2006-09-06T08:33:00.000-04:00

New Russian Law May Make Life Difficult For Allofmp3.com: "A year ago, Russian authorities investigated Allofmp3.com and found that the company was not violating local laws. As the site's owners have claimed from the beginning, they found a bit of a legal loophole in licensing the ability to sell music online from Russian rights' agencies. However, as Russia tries to join the WTO, the US (and its friends in the entertainment industry) have made it clear they will block Russia's attempt to join unless they shut down Allofmp3 and similar sites. Luckily Russia passed just such a law a couple years ago... though it didn't go into effect until just last week. It could present trouble for Allofmp3, as it threatens those who offer unauthorized downloads with five years in jail, basically setting the punishment terms on the equivalent level of selling stolen physical goods. Of course, it's not entirely clear how worried Allofmp3 should be. Another story on the law suggests that the Russian parliament may already want to change the law -- though, it's not clear how the new law will impact Allofmp3. In the meantime, thou"

Google to Let Users Search Archived News

2006-09-06T08:27:00.000-04:00

Google to Let Users Search Archived News: "Google plans to launch a news-search service for articles dating as far back as the 1700s. "

Google Instant Intranet

2006-09-06T08:18:00.000-04:00

Google Instant Intranet: "Google has an upcoming Personalized Start Page for Enterprise, according to some sleuthing done by Garrett Rogers and Scott Smith at Google Blogoscoped. Here's an example Dell start page and the official help page. The Personalized Start Page will be one of the options available in the beta Apps For Your Domain service. Currently email, IM, calendar and website creator is included in the package. In the Google Blogoscoped forum, there's further speculation about Writely integration and the ability to add Adsense to it. I think Google sees Personalized Start Page for Enterprise as a kind of 'instant Intranet' option for small-medium businesses. While the example above is from Dell, it's unlikely a big corporation would ditch their (often hugely expensive) custom-made Intranet. It could also be used a customer-facing website, which the Dell example seems to be. But I don't think that's all that appealing from a branding point of view. You'll note that the Dell page includes some special Dell gadgets (see image below). This is where it starts to get interesting, as we morph i"

Attention, Shoplifters

2006-09-05T10:57:00.000-04:00

Attention, Shoplifters: "Faced with $30 billion in losses, retailers are installing smarter and sneakier surveillance devices to stop thieves "

Fire-The-Coach Domain Squatting The Next Big Thing

2006-08-31T08:09:00.000-04:00

Fire-The-Coach Domain Squatting The Next Big Thing: "Apparently, domain squatting involves being a bit more creative these days. You can't just pick up the names of companies too shortsighted to register their own names. Instead, you need to look for ways to predict what people will be interested in down the road. That could be hurricane names, or it could be cashing in on the inevitability of fans hating their coaches. One guy has apparently gone around registering 'fireyourcoachhere.com' domain names for a variety of famous sports coaches -- knowing that upset fans will make them valuable at some point. Consider it the human equivalent of companies who discover someone owns 'thiscompanysucks.com' domain names. Of course, in that case, many companies sue to get those names back, claiming trademark infringement. How long until an angry coach sues to get back a website demanding he be fired?"

TBL Podcast, Mobile News, and 2 tickets to Future of Web Apps to give away

2006-08-23T10:12:00.000-04:00

TBL Podcast, Mobile News, and 2 tickets to Future of Web Apps to give away: "IBM has a podcast with Tim Berners-Lee. In a conversation with Scott Laningham of IBM developerWorks, Sir Tim discusses his early history with the Web, opportunities and challenges of the present, emerging technologies, and of course the semantic web. Reading news on your mobile device - Another Web inventor, Dave Winer of RSS fame, is now busy creating mobile versions of popular news sources and weblogs for reading on your BlackBerry, Treo, or web-enabled cell phone. Included in the first batch is a mobile version of Read/WriteWeb! Also available is mobile NY Times. When I hear Dave saying something like this, I always prick up my ears: 'I've not been so excited or so sure about a new direction for mobile technology since podcasting in June 2004. I'm sure we'll look back on this as a turning point for mobile news.' And speaking of the future of the Web... Read/WriteWeb is giving away two seats to The Future of Web Apps conference - courtesy of Carson Workshops. For a chance to win, answer"

Berners-Lee Disses Web 2.0

2006-08-23T10:07:00.000-04:00

Berners-Lee Disses Web 2.0: "I can't resist posting an excerpt from the Tim Berners-Lee podcast with IBM. This should hopefully put the matter of 'what is web 2.0' to rest, permanantly: LANINGHAM: 'You know, with Web 2.0, a common explanation out there is Web 1.0 was about connecting computers and making information available; and Web 2 is about connecting people and facilitating new kinds of collaboration. Is that how you see Web 2.0?' BERNERS-LEE: 'Totally not. Web 1.0 was all about connecting people. It was an interactive space, and I think Web 2.0 is of course a piece of jargon, nobody even knows what it means. If Web 2.0 for you is blogs and wikis, then that is people to people. But that was what the Web was supposed to be all along.' For good measure, Sir Tim adds: 'And in fact, you know, this Web 2.0, quote, it means using the standards which have been produced by all these people working on Web 1.0. It means using the document object model, it means for HTML and SCG and so on, it's using HTTP, so "

Concert Ticket Generator

2006-08-18T19:35:00.000-04:00

Now you never have to admit you missed the show. Just enter some text and click the 'Go' button. A picture of a concert ticket will be generated for you. Collect 'em, trade 'em, put 'em on your website, or e-mail 'em to your friends.

read more | digg story

Valley Boys

2006-08-04T10:55:00.000-04:00

Valley Boys: "Digg.com's Kevin Rose leads a new brat pack of young entrepreneurs Tip Sheet for Fashionistas Plus: The Geek Lowdown "

World of Widgets: Google

2006-08-02T12:01:00.000-04:00

World of Widgets: Google: "Widgets (aka gadgets, modules) are mini web apps that you can plug in to a webpage or site such as MySpace, or a personalized start page like Netvibes or live.com. Widgets are becoming more and more important on the Web, so I thought I'd spend a few posts looking more closely at them. Let's start with Google widgets, which they used to call modules but are now calling gadgets (curiously, a case where Google has copied Microsoft). Google offers two types of gadgets: 1) Desktop plug-ins - for the Google Desktop. Much like Yahoo's Konfabulator widget platform and Apple Dashboard. 2) Personalized Homepage gadgets. Google has gradually increased the number of widgets in their directory, but there are third party sites that offer a great selection too - e.g. here and here. Google gadgets can also run in Google Pages, their webpage-editing tool. To develop gadgets for the Google platform, use the Google Gadgets API - which Google claims is 'so easy to use that you can develop your first gadget in 5 minutes'. They also say it's easy to turn existing web"

Clock watcher

2006-08-02T11:59:00.000-04:00

Clock watcher: "The company where this pilot fish works uses flextime, so fish is a little surprised when his manager calls him into a conference room and asks, 'What hours do you work?' "

Invest in Yourself

2006-08-01T12:42:00.000-04:00

Invest in Yourself: " by Michael Sexton What's the most profitable investment you can make? Some people would tell you it's the stock market. Other people would point to mutual funds, precious metals or municipal bonds. Make no mistake, all those investments can offer you a great payback. But there is another investment that promises far greater rewards . . . "

Three Tips from Gen-Y About the New Workplace

2006-08-01T12:41:00.000-04:00

Three Tips from Gen-Y About the New Workplace: "What baby boomers have learned from twentysomethings about career management and getting ahead in the changing business environment. "

Three Tips from Gen-Y About the New Workplace

2006-08-01T12:38:00.000-04:00

Three Tips from Gen-Y About the New Workplace: "What baby boomers have learned from twentysomethings about career management and getting ahead in the changing business environment. "

Opinion: Flying by the seat of our pants

2006-08-01T12:33:00.000-04:00

Opinion: Flying by the seat of our pants: "The ease of flying a plane rests in that both the data and the controls are readily at hand. In contrast, storage management is often a situation of flying blind because we lack the right information. "

Collection of Interesting Google Links

2006-07-25T15:30:00.000-04:00

A collection of some interesting and strange google links that most people probably have not seen. Some are fun and some interesting.

read more | digg story

Digg Labs Launches!

2006-07-25T15:28:00.000-04:00

By providing broader and deeper views of activity on the site, the tools and projects in Labs aim to help manage the stream of stories passing through Digg, and to better understand the patterns and trends generated by our fast-growing membership.

read more | digg story

Google adds Traffic to Maps

2006-07-25T15:27:00.001-04:00

Now you can see how heavy the traffic flow is when planning your route. It works with both the PC and mobile versions!

read more | digg story

Google adds Traffic to Maps

2006-07-25T15:27:00.000-04:00

Now you can see how heavy the traffic flow is when planning your route. It works with both the PC and mobile versions!

read more | digg story

Next-gen Star Wars tech demo leaked

2006-07-24T16:31:00.000-04:00

Next-gen Star Wars tech demo leaked: "YouTube video shows Jedis giving demonstrations of The Force to unwilling stormtroopers."

PeopleAggregator and Open Social Network Systems

2006-07-11T12:10:00.000-04:00

PeopleAggregator and Open Social Network Systems:

PeopleAggregator is the first truly open social network system (SNS) on the Web. I don't think anyone will disagree that previous social networking success stories have all been 'closed' systems: MySpace, AOL, Friendster, Orkut, etc. All of those are systems that make it easy to enter your data, but very difficult (if not impossible) to get that data out again. So if you want to move all your data to a new social network, well tough luck your data is stuck in the old system.

How Tim Allen Reaches His Dreams

2006-07-03T15:57:00.000-04:00

How Tim Allen Reaches His Dreams: " by Barry Lenson A week ago I heard the comedian Tim Allen say something that has been on my mind ever since. He said that he uses three lists to organize his life. "

eBay Wiki - world's largest commercial wiki launched

2006-06-16T14:33:00.000-04:00

eBay Wiki - world's largest commercial wiki launched: "eBay, in collaboration with JotSpot, has just released a new community wiki - making it almost certainly the world's largest wiki platform for a commercial website (Wikipedia is bigger, but it's non-commercial). eBay Wiki is described as 'a collection of fact-based articles written and maintained by eBay Community members' and is powered by JotSpot's innovative wiki technology. I spoke to JotSpot co-founder and CEO Joe Kraus about the new eBay wiki yesterday - his thoughts later in this post. But first an overview of the product. eBay Wiki is located at www.ebaywiki.com and the wiki topics are categorized and tagged. You must be logged in as an eBay member to edit a wiki page, which then presents you with an easy-to-use wysiwyg HTML editor. So no awful wiki syntax to learn! Choosing topics/sub-topics and tags is very easy, as the following screenshot shows: eBay Wiki also has article history and ratings, the editor's user details and seller/buyer ratings (i.e. their eBay reputation), RSS feeds and other easy-to-use social features. So why did eBay choos"

Digg CEO Jay Adelson responds to Netscape challenge

2006-06-16T11:34:00.000-04:00

Digg CEO Jay Adelson responds to Netscape challenge: "Digg CEO Jay Adelson took time out of his busy schedule to email me some thoughts about Netscape's new digg-inspired community news site. Jay's thoughts below, but first some context. I've written two posts about the new Netscape site. In the Read/WriteWeb post I had two main points: 1) I think introducing paid editors into a community site may end up being as problematic as the 'hive mind' that it aims to prevent - because it introduces potential bias and favoritism. 2) The prominence of internal links and editors influencing discussions with 'commentaries', IMO deflects attention away from the actual articles - which leads me to think Netscape wants to keep people onsite, in order to expose them to more advertising (which there is a lot of on the new Netscape site). This of course is an old-style portal strategy. I followed that up with a ZDNet post which suggested that the paid editors now hold the balance of power - and how appropriate is that for a community site? I also pointed out that because Netscape has released a working version of non-tech"

Google Offers Photo-Sharing Feature

2006-06-15T11:20:00.000-04:00

Google Offers Photo-Sharing Feature: "Google introduced a feature that lets users of its Picasa software share photos online, moving the company into a fast-growing area of the 'social Web.'"

Google Insider Trading Goes Off the Charts (Literally)

2006-06-02T13:56:00.000-04:00

Google insider selling has become so fast and furious over the past month that it's completely off the charts. That's not just a figure of speech. It has LITERALLY gone off the charts- take a look for yourself.

read more | digg story

Levels of HTML knowledge

2006-06-01T13:16:00.000-04:00

6 levels of HTML knowledge among people, spanning from next to nothing to those who write the actual HTML specifications. Quite a funny read and not to be taken to seriously.

read more | digg story

Very Cool Javascript : Easily Add Sidenotes To Your Blog

2006-06-01T13:05:00.000-04:00

Just by adding this javascript to your blog or website, you can easily add color coded sidenotes to your blog entries. The script does everything. All you need to do is add a single tag to your text. You can also completely style the color, borders and positioning of the sidenotes with CSS. Very cool and simple to use.

read more | digg story

New Gmail Feature: Reply by Chat

2006-06-01T13:04:00.000-04:00

Google has just added a new feature to Gmail. You can now send messages you were about to email to a Gtalk user who has just signed on. Gmail will even then combine the email and the chat converstation in a single thread.

read more | digg story

Point, Click, Design

2006-05-26T13:17:00.000-04:00

Point, Click, Design: "'Your mom should be your best friend, but you don't necessarily want to share all your photos with her.' -Caterina Fake , co-founder, Flickr "