I went out on a limb and decided to start a tech/business/Detroit centered blog named The Straits of Tech. I will still maintain this blog when there's content to share with you, but I thought I would put my efforts into something that is a little more focused.
Also, if you haven't already visited my music blog, please check out Feed Me My Music (FM3). It's a place where I like to share my love for music with you.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Obama continues to use internet buzzwords on Google
I have to thank my twitterfeed again for finding this. User @chownage notes that when you google the word twitter, it comes up with the popular micro-blogging tool first, but then the second link is to Barack Obama's twitter page. I would think this might confirm Obama's campaign includes paying for better page ranks in search, especially since the same thing was happening when you searched Facebook last week and now it's gone. I guess it could be popular enough to make it to the top.
I'm still a little torn on whether it's a great idea or just over the top. Not that anything illegal is happening. It just seems like polotics is all about association and if you're associated with up and coming internet companies and buzzwords like Facebook and Twitter, it's probably better than being associated with oil companies and an old regime.
I'm still a little torn on whether it's a great idea or just over the top. Not that anything illegal is happening. It just seems like polotics is all about association and if you're associated with up and coming internet companies and buzzwords like Facebook and Twitter, it's probably better than being associated with oil companies and an old regime.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Cropper makes my life easier
Cropper? What can Cropper do for me? Well, I don't know exactly what it can do for you, but I know what it has done for me. This easy to use tool allows you to take a snapshot of anything on your screen in any size by simply double-clicking. It's great for blogging, documentation, and technical support. A co-worker introduced it to me at work and I use it everyday. I can size the snapshot, then double-click and paste to an email or Word or PowerPoint. Such a great tool.
I just used it for the first time at home in my last blog post and I thought I would share it with you.
Cropper was created by Brian Scott. You can read his blog post about Cropper, including all features and fixes. You can download Cropper here. Enjoy!
I just used it for the first time at home in my last blog post and I thought I would share it with you.
Cropper was created by Brian Scott. You can read his blog post about Cropper, including all features and fixes. You can download Cropper here. Enjoy!
Barack Obama and Facebook
Does anyone find it odd the second search result from typing in Facebook into google is Barack Obama's Facebook page? Does that mean there's that much interest in that page or it's the most relevant page for Facebook in Google indexes? Interesting...
Update: I have to thank @chownage from my Twitterfeed for letting me know about this interesting find.
Update: I have to thank @chownage from my Twitterfeed for letting me know about this interesting find.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Samsung Instinct fails to work with YouTube
If you've been following my Twitter feed at all, you've noticed I've been trying to start using my Samsung Instinct for more than just it's phone calling capabilities. Today, I thought I would upload my first video to YouTube. I think it would be cool to share with family, friends, and the public the things I get to witness in my life.
The process seemed to be fairly simple. I registered my phone with YouTube, then shot a quick 25 second video of my sleeping dog. I then uploaded it to YouTube, received a confirmation that it was uploaded and then proceeded to YouTube to view my work.
What I found was a cute video of the dog, but no audio. After searching to see if I did something wrong or if there was a problem with YouTube or the phone, I came across a forum thread that describes in detail what the problem was. Apparently, Samsung and/or Sprint failed to make sure the audio codec they were using would work with YouTube.
The irony in it all? Back when the phone was released, Sprint kicked off a marketing campaign where they would pay you $20 to upload videos of the Instinct to YouTube. Apparently they never consulted with Samsung on whether that was a good idea(you know, since they never tested to see if the phone can upload videos properly to YouTube). It kind of makes me feel like the marketing team at Sprint probably never used the phone themselves.
Too bad for me, I guess. I'll either have to wait for a fix or start looking for another option. Here's the video if you care to watch, without the audio of course.
The process seemed to be fairly simple. I registered my phone with YouTube, then shot a quick 25 second video of my sleeping dog. I then uploaded it to YouTube, received a confirmation that it was uploaded and then proceeded to YouTube to view my work.
What I found was a cute video of the dog, but no audio. After searching to see if I did something wrong or if there was a problem with YouTube or the phone, I came across a forum thread that describes in detail what the problem was. Apparently, Samsung and/or Sprint failed to make sure the audio codec they were using would work with YouTube.
The irony in it all? Back when the phone was released, Sprint kicked off a marketing campaign where they would pay you $20 to upload videos of the Instinct to YouTube. Apparently they never consulted with Samsung on whether that was a good idea(you know, since they never tested to see if the phone can upload videos properly to YouTube). It kind of makes me feel like the marketing team at Sprint probably never used the phone themselves.
Too bad for me, I guess. I'll either have to wait for a fix or start looking for another option. Here's the video if you care to watch, without the audio of course.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
So far, just my toes are in the water...
I've spent most of my night cleaning up Google Reader, trying to ship eBay auction items, tinkering with my new phone, and learning about more things I won't have time to use. I turn into a technology-sponge when I sit at my computer. I just enjoy plowing through all the feeds and info. According to Google Reader, I browsed through almost 1200 items today, and we didn't I wasn't even home from our 3 day weekend until 4PM.
All this to say, did I just waste the last 5 hours? Did I do something productive? Did I affect anything in a positive way? I don't know. Maybe someone will read something I have done and say, well done, who knows. I think I need to train myself to contribute to the web 2.0 sphere, not just feed off of it. Although I really haven't found the time to get involved in FriendFeed yet, my limited experience with it has taught me if I want to contribute, I can't sit on the sidelines. If I really want to learn, I have to be involved and open up. I can read 1200 items in a day, but have I shared with anyone what I have learned or how it makes me feel? I want to be part of an interactive web, not a self-affixed knowledge sponge. I need to start finding ways to sqeeze the sponge after it has been soaked up. Once I start squeezing, hopefully my experiences can be shared with others in a way that inspires.
All this to say, did I just waste the last 5 hours? Did I do something productive? Did I affect anything in a positive way? I don't know. Maybe someone will read something I have done and say, well done, who knows. I think I need to train myself to contribute to the web 2.0 sphere, not just feed off of it. Although I really haven't found the time to get involved in FriendFeed yet, my limited experience with it has taught me if I want to contribute, I can't sit on the sidelines. If I really want to learn, I have to be involved and open up. I can read 1200 items in a day, but have I shared with anyone what I have learned or how it makes me feel? I want to be part of an interactive web, not a self-affixed knowledge sponge. I need to start finding ways to sqeeze the sponge after it has been soaked up. Once I start squeezing, hopefully my experiences can be shared with others in a way that inspires.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Can you be a casual junkie?
I was pondering this question over the last few days while I thought about my interests in the web 2.0 'sphere. Can you really be a junkie if you only have the time for it to be a casual interest? Sometimes I don't feel like I have time to keep up with the internet. I am signed up on so many sites that I don't have time to use. I just signed up for Freindfeed just because I heard it was cool. I could spend hours reading through feeds, writing reviews, updating a blog, or tweeting it up. I sign up for sites that I just hear about, I'm not even sure if I'll use it or not.
It really leads me to my next question. Why do I enjoy web 2.0 so much? Well, I think it comes down to contribution and interaction. I want to be able to learn and share with others. I want to have fun and intelligent conversations about technology, local issues, the economy. I want to learn what's interesting to other people that have the same (or sometimes differing) interests. That's what makes it so great. You don't have 1 site to check for news or opinion, you can see the ebb and flow of what's important to people everywhere.
For now, I think I'll be a casual junkie. I'll get to the computer when I can. It's a hobby. Maybe some day it will be more than that, but that's definitely not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for opportunities to open my mind and to contribute to the greater cloud of the web.
It really leads me to my next question. Why do I enjoy web 2.0 so much? Well, I think it comes down to contribution and interaction. I want to be able to learn and share with others. I want to have fun and intelligent conversations about technology, local issues, the economy. I want to learn what's interesting to other people that have the same (or sometimes differing) interests. That's what makes it so great. You don't have 1 site to check for news or opinion, you can see the ebb and flow of what's important to people everywhere.
For now, I think I'll be a casual junkie. I'll get to the computer when I can. It's a hobby. Maybe some day it will be more than that, but that's definitely not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for opportunities to open my mind and to contribute to the greater cloud of the web.
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