tech rants, ideas, code, links, sanity
I am a writer, geek, technologist, social webbie, animated character, bon vivant, et al. Wit and wisdom are served on a frequent basis. Admission is free. No warranties, express or implied. Your mileage may vary. You can also visit me at cjsparno.com.
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Check out my blog at http://cjsparno.com
Chris
My love affair with Google Chrome
I LOVE GOOGLE CHROME beta. Yes, beta. I installed it this week and have been playing with Extensions and Bookmark Sync. Those of you who know me and read my stuff regularly, know I have been complaining for months that the only feature I really needed/wanted (and the only thing that kept me coming back to trying Firefox again and again) was bookmark sync (specifically XMarks).
Well, this week, not only did I get Bookmark Sync native in Google Chrome beta channel, I also get the Xmarks extension. So now, I have too many options where last week I had none. Woot! Thank you Google for the new gallon of CoolAid. Let the drinking begin.
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The problem with Linux (Jolicloud sucks too)
Not sure if it's just me, but every time I get sucked into a new distro of Linux, with the promise that it will "revolutionize" my netbook experience, I get VERY excited and rush to download, awaiting the moment of install and first boot like the arrival of Santa to an 7 year old. This evening, I suffered through the two hour download of Jolicloud, after reading how "wonderful" it was and how "compatible" with my Acer Aspire One D150. Well, its not. And once again, I awoke Christmas morning to find that Santa does not exist (disclaimer for readers sharing this with the little ones, the real Santa DOES exist, he uses a Mac! LOL)
Here is what sucks about Linux distros. If the developer/programmer/assembler forgot to include something important, like the ability to close the freakin lid on the computer and have it freakin sleep (its called Sleep Linux people, not suspend. Suspend is what happens to bad children and Linux distros that smoke on school grounds), there is no way to fix this without a PHD in arcane Unix command line-fu. Can you say "Not ready for primetime"? No wonder Linux has made no (ZERO!!!!!!) inroads in the consumer market worth a crap. The whole running net apps fullscreen was cool, but I can't sleep the freaking computer. What a crock. Windows 7 is staying - not the fastest, but it works and that makes me happy on a Friday night when all I really want to do is watch TV and check/send email.
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Walt Disney on Recession
"Recession doesn't deserve the right to exist. There are just too many things to be done in science and engineering to be bogged down by temporary economic dislocations" - Walt Disney
The amazing thing is that he said this in the 50's. Yet it is applicable to today's economic reality. If only the company Walt built acted and believed words like this today. Or any of the major corporations for that matter. So many companies reacted by contracting and firing workers, and by action, stunted growth further.
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Day 3 of Google DNS test
Well, its day 3 (actually the end of day 3) and I have to say that the surfing experience (do people still use that term?) has been excellent. Pages load very fast and no errors. Its a bit scary I guess that a lot of my go to tools are now Google centric. Gmail for example rules my world - heck I even use it to post to Posterous. Google Calendar controls my day, Google Reader serves me RSS. And now DNS. Oh well, I guess I just like that "warm blanket" feeling of embracing an ecosystem fully. Used to be that way with Apple. Oh, did I mention Chrome rocks as my browser! Yeah, I drank the coolaid, and it was tasty too.
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The relevance of FriendFeed
Its been a while since I did a review of my blogging/posting/twitter workflow and it seems I have not logged into FriendFeed in probably 4 months. Initially the idea was to use FriendFeed as the hub and use Twitter just as a broadcaster. But with some great tools like Tweetie on my iPhone and Seesmic on my laptop, I find myself using Twitter to keep in touch with my "reading list" more and more. I have to admit I feel a little guilty. And a little sad too.
I initially embraced the idea of FriendFeed. It seemed like a great tool, with real "realtime" feeds and great support. Then something happened when Facebook acquired it. It seems to have died. Only about 1/3 of the people I follow on Twitter use FriendFeed. I know I can create ghost lists to "add" the missing people, but why bother? There are only a handful of people that are only on FriendFeed that I really want to follow, but is it really worth it to load up FriendFeed for just a couple of streams. And I guess as we all embrace social media more and more, it becomes an issue of convenience and tools. If the tool sucks, why bother. If its a hassle, why use the tool.
Perhaps this is why FriendFeed has become less useful for me recently. How about you? Are you still using FF or have you too moved off this once interesting platform? I for one will be moving away from it - not because its necessarily broken, but because it is no longer a go-to tool for keeping up with the people who are important to me.
So what does this mean for my workflow. Well, as a fan of simplicity and using the best tool for the job (the OCD side of my personality), I find myself posting blog length posts here to Posterous exclusively. Yes, I still have a Tumblr account but the community is better here, more followers and richer content. Plus I really like the way Posterous is growing and improving - a result of the strong vision of the architects.
From Posterous, I am now going right to Twitter and skipping FriendFeed altogether. I also cross post to Facebook since this is where my personal friends exist online. If I know you "face to face", chances are you are a Facebook friend and this is the way I keep in touch with you. Some of my "personal" friends are also on Twitter, so there is some duplication but not too much.
I also maintain a LinkedIn account, but I have resisted any type of connection to my other networks/activity and use that service exclusively for business building. Again, some personal friends crossover, but for the most part, I keep these worlds seperate.
Don't forget to write a comment if you agree or if you have a better approach than this. I enjoy hearing from the active community here and look forward to your comments.
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Google DNS
Google DNS is now available to replace your existing ISP's DNS server or whatever DNS you use. Looks like the key here is speed. Initial testing shows a performance boost over local ISP SmartCity and OpenDNS. Though the feature set of OpenDNS is more "robust", Google's built in privacy policy appears to actually be better since no registration of personal data is required to use the DNS server addresses.
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The real power of Twitter
I have been thinking about some posts I read recently regarding what Twitter is and isn't. Certainly the original mission has changed, as evidenced by the change to "What's happening..." in the all familiar status bar. I think the power of twitter is its ability to connect people via their ideas and content. Where a traditional blog is great for telling a story or sharing detailed information, a tweet allows us to peek into the mind of those we want to follow or want to get to know. It is a great equalizer in that you can be connected to some great thinkers. It's almost like a giant academic campus, where we have access to all the professors and all the students at any given time. By carefully managing who you follow, you can create a very powerful knowledge base of some of the best thinkers in tech and advertising. And in many cases, if you are careful and thoughtful in your own posts, you will be followed back by some of the same folks who might otherwise be way outside your social or business networks.
I was looking at my "following" list this weekend and was amazed at the sheer volume and quality of "knowledge" these people bring to the table. In a way, I am thankful to have them as informal advisers, teachers and in some cases friends. If you look at Twitter in this way, you can truly appreciate its power and use it as a tool rather than a view it as a distraction.
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Cats for Gold -- Finally, a way to put all that extra gold to good use
Got a lot of gold laying around collecting dust? That college master debater ring, the wedding ring from your first wife, the gold teef from your old "grill". Now they can be put to good use for something really meaningful, especially with the holidays right around the corner.
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