Reality Me

Category: Publishing

  • Job Market 2009

  • Presidential Material?

    At least her staff made an attempt and putting spin on it.

    Thanks to Knoxvilletalks for the video.

    Update: The unedited version showing the gunfire!

  • New Google Adsense Terms and Conditions

    If you use Adsense, you will need to agree to new terms and conditions by March 25, 2008. I post these mainly to remind myself to re-read them to make sure I am following the rules.

    (more…)

  • Spongebob Classics

  • The Front Fell Off

  • Do you dream of blogging?

    Many people dream of making money by blogging. I do not fool myself into thinking Reality Me will ever be a for profit endeavor. I simply enjoy blogging and use it as a creative outlet during breaks from my programming.

    Do you enjoy blogging so much that you actually dream of blogging? Last night, in my sleep, I composed a most wonderful, Pulitzer worthy blog post. I awoke around 4am with the post vaguely in my memory. (almost stayed up to program) The next time I awoke, at 6am, it was gone. I do keep a notepad by my bed but the habit of waking and writing my thoughts down is long gone. Now, if I had a laptop by the bed, that post would have been published!

  • Blogfest Tonight

    Are you going to blogfest tonight? If my coughing is under control, I’ll be there giving away a Seesmic invite and a wireless router.

    Blogfest.
    This Friday.
    6:30PM
    Baileys in West Knoxville.
    [Source, Shots Across The Bow]

  • Name the song

    Supposedly, there are no camera or audio tricks employed in this video. Amazing! I’ll have to try this one day.

    Thanks to Richard Duncan of ProfessorFalken.com where I first saw this video. I feel great sorrow over the passing of his grandson even though this is the first I have read of the child. Regardless of the amount of time we are gifted on this Earth, the way we touch others is everlasting. However short, I am certain his life was great!

  • Why do people web?

    Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang posted The Three Web Activities: Task, Project, and Business Programs which I agree from the web management perspective. I think when building websites it is important to consider the 3 reasons users come to a website. My response to Jeremiah Owyang:

    I agree with your breakdown from a web management perspective. The IT guy, the techie, the web programmer should be very focused on The Task, The Project, and The Business Program. With[out] those, the website fails to function.

    I have a list of 3 which is about that function. My list is derived from the end user experience rather than the web management side. I address this list with my clients when they are trying to make decisions about their webite:
    1. Information
    2. Utility
    3. Entertainment

    That order is important.

    People go to the web first for information (e.g. I want to call company X and need their phone number). I am astounded at the number of business[es] that make it difficult to contact them.

    People go to the web secondly for utility (e.g. “I want to make travel arrangements” or “I need to do some online banking/bill paying”)

    People go to the web thirdly for entertainment (e.g. “going to watch the television show I missed last night,” “watch some youtube,” or “play some games”).

    I find businesses mistakenly want to build backwards thinking that if they first build something entertaining that will draw their audience in. Then they can provide utility (often associated with profit). And lastly, if they ever get around to it, information.

    People will argue that entertainment should be first in the list but that is a delusion. We may spend more time on entertainment but most people go to the web for information first.

    “Social media” is changing the equation slightly. Services like Twitter provide information, utility and entertainment in one fell swoop.

    Links referenced:
    Are you in The Converation?
    Put @RedCross in your Twitter

  • DivX Pro Holiday Edition

    For a limited time, you can freely get DivX Pro. Thanks for the holiday gift!

    Update: Willful points out that xvid has always been free.

  • What is a podcast?

    For the longest time I have wanted to get into podcasting. I have good excuses like my computer equipment is pathetically out of date, my hard drives are too small (size does matter!) and filling up, and time is a commodity (video and audio take time!). But really, the geek in me has held me back the most. I understand the definition of podcasting:

    A podcast is a collection of digital media files which is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. [Wikipedia]

    That was not satisfying enough for me. I did not want to "podcast" until I could be certain that I was using the word correctly! Did quality of video matter? Length? What if my RSS stream occasionally had text only posts? Does Seesmic count? What about Youtube? Or Utterz?

    Tonight I posed the question on Seesmic and had the pleasure of having the CTO and creator of http://podcast.com/ give the definitively best answer to the question. I really appreciated Kosso‘s answer! It nailed it for me.

    (Someone should put that video in Wikipedia under podcast)

    Update: David Jacobs of The Connected World gave a great answer from a coffee shop! Watch David Jacobs reply on Seesmic!

  • Are you in The Conversation?

    "Social media" is the latest buzz word. What social media is really trying to describe is The Conversation(patent pending). I explain to prospective clients that people came to the Internet for these reasons and in this order:

    1. Information
    2. Utility
    3. Entertainment

    When building a website it is important to consider this order of precedence. Most people mistakenly want to build their website or web application in the reverse order providing entertainment then utility then information.

    The Internet is a reflection of the real world.
    –Doug McCaughan

    Yes, I just quoted myself because I cannot emphasize it enough. As I have come to play around with Seesmic, I’ve tried to answer the question of "what is it?" Answers have included "Twitter with video" or "Beyond description" and simply "addictive." But none of those really describe it. This comes closer:

    [Seesmic] makes all the other Internet addictions look like over the counter crap.
    –Doug McCaughan

    To use some analogies, Twitter is like being in a classroom or a meeting and passing notes around without speaking with the ability for others in the classroom to request to see your notes (unless you’ve deemed them private). Utterz is like a party with the lights out. You can hear conversations and participate in conversations but you cannot see anyone. [update: Since first making this post I have begun to compare Utterz to CB radio][Update 8/20/2008: Since first making this post, Utterz has added many features including video. Its UI (UX to the MS heads) has improved dramatically. Utterz added or retained features of linking picture and text posts to separately recorded audio posts. Utterz has grown into a powerful and robust system.] Seesmic is that same party with the lights on. You can see and hear everyone. You can following multiple conversations, or participate in the conversations, or just wander around and hear the ambient noise.

    Businesses and people alike need to know that Social Media has combined the 3 important elements of the Internet (information, utility, and entertainment) into a single application. With social media I can post a question and get a response quickly (information). I can interact, for instance, with Twitter I can add myself to the RedCross safeandwell database (utility). And naturally I can be entertained through any of the mediums, Seesmic being the example that says "we don’t need Hollywood!" (entertainment).

    Are you in The Conversation?

    Read also Some Conversations have shifted to Twitter and Web Strategy: What the Web Strategist should know about Twitter.

    Update: Watch Eric Rice in a video response to Susan Mernit’s blog post Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn: It’s the conversationsphere, baby. Eric and I had the same initial thoughts about Twitter which you can read in his post Soylent Twitter: Playing the @spin Expansion Pack (pt 1). He follows that up with a post about styles Soylent Twitter (part 2): Playing the @spin Expansion Pack and then explains Why [he’s] unfollowing you on Twitter. Watch this video to see how Eric Rice uses social networks:

    Update: If you are addicted to social networks, you might consider checking into INVITATIONS Social Networking Rehab.

  • Why do they always pick on Doug?!

  • The Public Relations Long Tail

    What?!! Reporters, bloggers, and spammers get lumped together at the end?

    Email spamming reporters and bloggers: Why is this here as a tool? Because people are still doing it in spite of the high risk and low reward! They can’t give up the 1% return. See Eric Eggertson on the topic. [Source, Now is Gone, The Public Relations Long Tail]

  • Not in America! And Only in Knoxville…

    Does that suit drive you nuts? Would you like to be a little more casual? Perhaps the Audrey Underwear company is for you.

    The Audrey Underwear company in Taiwan asked it’s 500 women employs in the firms head quarters to come to work in camisoles and knickers to celebrate record sales. … More than 90% of female workers reportedly went along with the spirit of the day and worked in their underwear. [Source]

    This takes Half-nekkid Thursdays to a new level!

    And Knoxville shows its butt on the news with a woman who wants her butt implants removed:


    http://view.break.com/409510 – Watch more free videos