What’s going on we back again on the part 2 and this Blog is an Update. As ya’ll know, I’m working on my upcoming mix, “The Progress Mixtape” via Bangin Noize Entertainment, LLC set for release Summer 2010. I got alot work going in marketing my new mixtape so be on the look out for that Online and at my shows. I’m also presenting my pre-single to your favorite social network sites: Myspace | Facebook | Reverbnation | Soundclick | Youtube on Monday February 1, 2010. The pre-single is called “I Represent” produced by Thawed Out Productions (I’m On Ya Mind {keep hatin’}). February 8th, we release the single for Exclusive Download on Dee Bomb’s World (And several other outlets). I’ll have a list up stating where you can request “I Represent” over 16 internet radio stations.
*MAKE SURE YOU DOWNLOAD ALL MY MIXTAPES FOR FREE JUST CLICK HERE*
In the mean time I give you Joell Ortiz and Novel with “Defying the Predictable” off of Joell Ortiz’s Upcoming album, “Free Agent”, available in March 2010.
These days, it seems the social web is like real estate – it’s all about location, location, location. Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt are gaining popularity as location based, mobile social services. Yelp has rolled out Yelp Check-ins, which mirror a popular activity on the aforementioned services. Twitter added location awareness to its API in 2009. Facebook, some speculate, may enter the fray with their own location based services.
So how would it be possible to enable Location Based Services in a virtual event? Well, consider that location tracking is inherent to the virtual event platform – in other words, it has a built-in GPS for all users! I wrote previously about gaming in virtual events – that gaming can generate retention, engagement, enjoyment and loyalty. Location Based Services, in the form of competition and gaming, can achieve all of these benefits. Let’s take a look at how.
Source: flickr (User: dvxfilmerdoug)
It Starts With The Buddy List
Users first need to build their social graph. This can be accomplished with a virtual event platform’s “buddy list” feature – all users in your buddy list would receive status notifications from the location system. The notifications would be sent to users within the virtual event (if you’re logged in). Once you log out, you can opt to receive status notifications via email. This way, even if you’re no longer in the event, you can receive updates (via email) on what you’re buddies are up to.
Build A Reward System
Next, a reward system ought to be in place as the incentive for users to participate. The concept here is similar to the becoming “mayor” of a location on Foursquare. In a virtual event, perhaps you allow privileged users (who have achieved a certain status) to obtain a badge – whereby the badge can superimposed on their avatar image – or, listed on their profile page. In addition to the badge system, a master leaderboard (and perhaps segmented leaderboards) should be utilized, allowing users to track their performance relative to other users.
The Virtual Trade Show
First, the notion of a social graph in a virtual trade show may be an upfront challenge. At most trade shows, you may know a handful of colleagues or associates who are also attending – but for the most part, everyone else is a stranger (to start). Thus, a system may need to be in place first to encourage users to add other users to their buddy list.
Assuming you can achieve decent-sized social graphs, then the “check-in” becomes quite relevant in a virtual trade show. Each visit that I make to an event area can be tracked (by the platform) as a check-in – allowing my buddies to know what areas I visited – and, where I am right now. Secondly, I might leave a review or comment about a particular area – perhaps I enjoyed the content in an exhibitor’s booth – or, I didn’t find a Webcast to be all that useful. When my buddies enter those same areas, they can then view the comments I left them from my prior check-ins. Thus, when a buddy enters the same exhibitor booth, she knows that I visited earlier and enjoyed the content there.
Exhibitors could then sponsor areas of the event (besides their own booth) – the Lounge, Auditorium, Resource Center, etc. Then, attendees can vie to become the “mayor” of a given area. At the end of the live event, perhaps the mayor of the Lounge receives a prize that’s awarded by the Lounge’s sponsor – and to receive the prize, agrees to have a short conversation with that sponsor. Already, you can begin to see how this location “app” can generate additional activity and engagement.
Source: flickr (User: Live Solutions)
The Virtual Sales Conference
In a virtual sales conference (and related corporate events), attendees naturally have a large list of potential buddies – the trick is to incent the attendees to properly populate that list within the virtual event. Alternatively, management may choose to pre-select the buddy lists by organizing the sales force into teams – whereby your buddy list is pre-seeded with your fellow team members. The location app is all about checking in (with each other) and sharing information towards awarding points to your team. In this manner, the location app helps encourage learning and collaboration, making the virtual sales conference more effective.
Social Networks
For certain types of events (e.g. virtual trade shows), integrating the location system with users’ social networks can be powerful. For instance, a check-in to the keynote presentation can auto-generate a tweet out to the attendee’s Twitter followers – providing a registration link to the event. Similarly, a check-in at an exhibitor’s booth may prompt the user whether she wants to post an update to her Facebook wall. In summary, the location service should facilitate sharing not just within the virtual event, but to external social networks as well.
Prevent Gaming (of the System)
The virtual events platform will need to carefully build the measurement and scoring methodologies to ensure that the “game is not gamed”. In the real world, there is overhead involved in becoming the mayor of a watering hole – in the virtual world, clicking 50 times to enter an exhibitor’s booth is quite easy. The scoring system ought to consider rate limits, as well as threshold values around selected activities. Additionally, becoming “mayor” should factor in actions that are not as “game-able” as mouse clicks or visits.
Conclusion
There’s probably a lot of work to enable the underlying platform to accomplish this – however, such a system can go a long way to achieving retention, engagement, enjoyment and loyalty.
I know, you’re thinking who would think that way? The joy of smoking? I’ll tell you who… a smoker! If smoking wasn’t bad for your health, everyone would be doing it! It relaxes you, substitutes snacks, takes away boredom, and not to mention the people you meet when you’re kicked outside to your little “smoking area”. We’ve become like leprosy colonies- looked down on by society- minorities- diseased. I too have become like society and hate the fact that I smoke. NOT because people tell me not to, but because I find myself running out of breath, coughing when I’m not sick, and inconveniencing family and friends. I’ve decided to become a non-smoker. Thanks to FaceBook I’ve found I have many people who support me, so I decided to go a step farther and document this life changing event. I’m hoping I will hear from those who quit before me and from those who want to try to quit along with me. Together we can do this!!
I am not doing this cold turkey. I started taking Chantix about a month ago. I’m not very good with meds so of course I kept forgetting to take my pills at the correct time, but I didn’t give up. I was determined to take the pills for 2 weeks and also start cutting back on the smokes. once I got down to 5 cigs a day, I was totally amazed, then 3 a day. This past Sunday I had one cigarette and it wasn’t so bad because I told myself what time I would be able to have it and I looked forward to it. Then I thought, how bad would it be if I only had one cigarette a day- that couldn’t hurt. It could be like that glass of wine or beer you have after work. OK, I get it- QUIT! Then there’s the I’m not a quitter- ok all seriousness This is the hardest thing I ever had to do.
I’m even nervous, I’m feeling a little like I lost my best friend. I don’t know what to do with myself. At this point I can’t talk anymore about it I’m finding it hard at times to even say the word….smoking.
Here’s hoping tomorrow will be better! Please join me on this venture
Rachel
Originally Postd by Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a marketing strategist with a specialty in social media.
Foursquare, the location based social game, recently announced that users can now check in anywhere in the world. So how and why should your businesses take advantage?
If you’re unfamiliar with Foursquare, you can read about it HERE
Marketing using Foursquare is beneficial because although a small user base, they are loyal. It also takes up almost no time, so the ROI can be high. Foursquare marketing is most appropriate for brick and mortar businesses (people physically walk into your store to make purchases), but anyone can be taking advantage of Foursquare. Here’s how:
1. Add Your Business
If you’re located in a large city your business may have already have been listed. If it’s not…simply add it to the network by clicking “Add This Place”. You’ll need to fill out basic info like address and phone number. Be sure to fill out and complete the entire form. You’ll want to give users as much information as possible. (If someone else has already added your business, make sure all of the information is correct and complete)
2. Add Friends
Like any social network, you need people to communicate with. Foursquare makes it easy to add your current contacts in your Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. Although you should try all three avenues, the majority of your friends will come from Twitter followers because that will most likely be the highest % of folks using Foursquare. Don’t be surprised if you only have a few friends, Foursquare is still in its infancy. If you only have locations in one city, you may only want friends who live in that particular city. A few people from outside your location may travel, but I recommend marketing to folks who can buy now.
You can add me HERE
3. Get Active
Check in to your work each day. This will let all of your friends know where you work, and also allows your business to remain fresh in their minds. Along with checking in, add “Shouts” (profile updates) that are relevant to what’s going on. Do you have events coming up? Any promotions you’re pushing?
As you check in to your own workspace, make sure you check into other locations as well. No one will appreciate it if you’re only on the network to only promote yourself. Checking into other locations is also a great way to see what other businesses are doing and how their utilizing the network.
4. Add Tips
On each location you check into, you’re allowed to add “tips”. Be sure you add specials and promotions that are going on. You can also add tips for ways to find easy parking around your business, website promotions, if you deliver, anything that you think users may find useful.
5. Reward Those Who Check In
You should be rewarding Foursquare users who check into your business. Sign up your business to advertise with Foursquare HERE.
Because you will be checking into your business each day, you’re likely to be the mayor fairly quickly. So cater your promotions to anyone who checks in, not only being a mayor.
6. Spread the Word
Link your Foursquare account to both your Twitter and Facebook accounts. This will allow you to notify all 3 networks that you’re active on Foursquare, but also attach a “Shout” and let your networks know what specials you’re running. Like any other social media marketing strategy, utilize all of your networks to spread the word.
7. Outside The Box / Events
As more Foursquare users begin to use the network in your city…get creative and have a little fun with it. Announce specials that can only be seen in the “tips” portion of your profile. Hold events for Foursquare users so they can all check in to your business. Anything to show a little creativity.
Foursquare is in its infancy, and I am a proponent of not overwhelming yourself with network overload. But these actions should take no more than 10 minutes to set up, and about 45 seconds to check in each day. Because of the little time commitment, it is my opinion that the ROI is worth it.
Facebook has come out with a new feature which i call the Via feature. Whenever you see a link on Facebook you like and you want to post it also you click the share button and you can post it. Facebook has made it so where the words “via user name” appear where user name is the person who originally posted it. This is very similar to Twitter’s Re-tweet feature which allows someone to post someone else’s tweet as their own while still giving credit.
High school was not kind to me. As for many, it was 4-5 years of drama, angst, awkwardness, pain, and feeling unaccepted by others whom appeared to cruise through as happy & popular, amongst the upper echelon of Queen Bees or those with a King Shit of Turd Island complex. Most of the latter peaked during high school, experiencing their “glory years”. My own weren’t so glorious!
I was:
extremely asthmatic, ill, and often hospitalized. Some of my hospital stints were spent in Intensive Care, hooked-up to nasal prongs for oxygen & heart monitors due to tachycardia. Tachycardia which resulted from I.V. Ventolin, given to dilate my severely constricted bronchial passages. (Those of you whom may have tried or abused cocaine or amphetamines: f.y.i. — Ventolin, when given intravenously, is much more of a stimulant, giving a significant high. Trembling hands, dangerously high heart-rate, amongst other dangerous side-effects!) There were a couple of occasions when I was considered so ill, that my physician was inclined to send me, via air ambulance jet, to acute care facilities (BC Childrens or St. Paul’s Hospital), 1100 km south, in Vancouver.
My respiratory health had to be treated/maintained with numerous drugs — most of which were delivered via nebulizer treatments at home. All kinds of drugs: Ventolin, Intal, Beclovent, Becloforte, and Atrivent, to name a few. Oh, and tablets of the lovely, lovely corticosteroid drug Prednisone — which has all kinds of gross side-effects, including: decreased metabolic rate, increased appetite, mood swings, weight gain, and swollen “moon face”.
My asthma was triggered by: climate — particularly cold air (I lived in northern B.C., where at times, the temperature would drop to 40-below Celcius during the winter months!), pollution (woodsmoke emitted by the scrap-burning/beehive burner at a local sawmill, and that from many local residents’ woodstoves & fireplaces), temperature inversions which would trap all of the pollution in the valley where my hometown is located (my hometown has one of the highest rates of asthma, per capita, in the entire province of British Columbia), and emotional stress/psycho-somatic triggers. Emotional stress: the result of bullying, depression, and the crazy dynamics of my dysfunctional family.
overweight. My weight gain, of course, being caused by my severely compromised respiratory health, inability to maintain/endure cardiovascular exercise (my phys. ed. teachers couldn’t comprehend, nor understood that not everyone’s asthma is the same, and I wasn’t just able to “use a Ventolin inhaler” & carry-on like other students whom had slight, exercise-induced symptoms), side-effects from corticosteroid drugs — particularly Prednisone, and emotional eating (because that’s how I comforted myself when under stress or sad). I was chubby, then fat, and grew to obese. Being fat in high school: not fun! I was teased, mocked, and shamed by others, due to my weight. No one wanted to date the fat girl!
artistic & my own person. Outspoken, headstrong, stubborn, opinionated, and expressive. I loved to write, excelled in communications, was an excellent artist, and (had I not been mocked, teased, routinely humiliated, and embarrassed by others) probably would have done extremely well in drama — which I didn’t enroll in, due to the aforementioned. I wouldn’t even get up in front of my classes, when required to deliver assigned oral presentations; I’d willingly accept a failing grade.
an incredibly poor student, whose grades did not reflect her intelligence & capabilities. The majority of my friends were honor-roll students, with excellent marks, and achieved brilliant grades. I was their “stupid” friend. My horrific grades were due to unspeakable truancy & little to no effort on my part. Truancy which resulted from feeling socially unaccepted, scared, ashamed, and being ill. I pretty much gave up on myself, and for their frustration, most teachers did, too!
All of these dismal factors have contributed to aspects of my personality, behaviour, and accomplishments –rather, lack-of — as an adult!
Self-hatred, loathing, and a self-debasing sense of humour. I use myself as the butt of my own jokes, so that I may possibly beat others to the punch, before they may possibly criticize my flaws or shortcomings. In doing-so, not only do I highlight flaws which others may not have noticed, but repel others who have sincerely liked & accepted myself. Who the Hell wants to be around such a negative, draining person, with low self-esteem?
Constantly second-guessing myself, and lack of confidence in my abilities — regardless of whether I am correct or competent.
Continual worry that I’ve said or done things which may have offended people, or cause them to dislike myself.
I’ve allowed people to walk all over myself, treat me badly, take me for granted, abuse my kindnesses & generosity, and sought approval. Approval from those whose opinions ought not matter, irrelevant individuals, and those whom have abused myself. Sometimes, repeatedly.
My reactions to criticism and/or rejection. Rather, what I may perceive as criticism or rejection. Though there have been many instances of actual criticism & rejection, I am so hyper-sensitive to others’ words & actions, that I’ve misconstrued what’s been said or done. I feel & sense peoples’ energy, read their body language, and pick-up on subtle nuances in their cadence. Inflections, pattern of speech, and possible condescension. When this happens (or hasn’t been implied), I get my back-up, sometimes return the favour ten-fold, or withdraw from people.
I have a hard time trusting people. Trust is a big issue with myself; I am constantly braced for betrayal or hurt.
I often feel socially awkward, worried that people will not accept myself. I have a hard time being myself, particularly amongst groups of new people, or those whom aren’t as familiar with my character. In such instances, I’ve often abused alcohol, so that I’d become less socially hindered. However, if/when I became impaired or out-right intoxicated, I was NOT myself, and often grossly misrepresented my true, authentic self. Once I got to a certain point of impairment, and became intoxicated, my manners, conduct, demeanor, self-control, dignity, judgment, charm, and sweetness disappeared. I usually became belligerent, foul-mouthed, vulgar, sloppy, aggressive, rude, sad, overly-emotive, and — not Kate! Intoxication compromised my nature to the point where those who I’d consumed alcohol around (to feel less inhibited) ended-up thinking I was an utter jackass. I am not a jackass, nor do I exhibit any of those negative characteristics when sober! My mum has often said to me,
“I don’t like who you become when you drink. You’re not at all yourself.”
She’s right. I don’t like myself when I’m drunk either, and I most certainly do not like the repercussions of my drunken, poor, demonstratively drunk behaviour(s)!
Allowing myself to be or stay in unhealthy relationships, accepting poor treatment from others — particularly men. I settled for less than I deserved, and “dated down”. I made far too many mistakes with inappropriate, incompatible, unworthy men. My standards were low, and I made myself available to men who didn’t give a shit about myself. Draw your own conclusions about these statements.
Ongoing problems with eating disorders — particularly bulimia & exercise bulimia. This once obese, severely teased woman has battled her weight for years, and often taken her weight loss efforts too far! Under-eating/purging, excessive & compulsive exercise, neurotic calorie counting, and the like. My self-worth is influenced by my weight & appearance. Men — most of them unworthy — admired & pursued myself when I became thin. I was physically desirable; men are visual creatures. Most men liked me for superficial or sexual reasons, even though under my desirable, tiny shell, I was still the same, sweet, self-conscious, people-pleasing, intelligent, and kind girl. All guys saw/see is the physical package — not me, for who I am. After years of rejection & teasing, becoming thin & desirable was extremely empowering to myself. People seemed to like me better, because I was really attractive. Or, in the words of others — “stunning”, “incredibly beautiful”, and “hot”. I’ve done the yo-yo thing with my weight for years, and right now, I have to drop weight again. You can imagine how this effects my confidence & self-worth!
My atrocious grades in high school have limited myself professionally. I do not have a post-secondary degree or diploma. Zero credentials, other than life skills & those learned while out there, working in whatever underachieving position I’ve placed myself in — bored, underpaid, frustrated, tread-upon, undervalued, taken advantage-of, overworked (life/work balance: completely out of whack!), and at times, verbally abused by employers. This, I can change, but I’d have to put in a LOT of work to upgrade my high school marks, before even attempting to try my hand at university! For my alleged intelligence, I think that people would be incredibly shocked by the education that I lack. A G.E.D. doesn’t even factor into my educational career. I dropped-out before graduating high school — because I hated high school so much, felt so uncomfortable there, fell through the cracks, and had given-up on myself. (Now you know: I’m a high school drop-out!)
Despite the confidence that I often exhibit, my self-esteem is often very low. I take great offense when people call me out on this. I don’t need to be told, “You have really low self-esteem!” I already KNOW so!
The dynamics of & my role in a my alcoholic, dysfunctional family also factor into all of the above.
I’ve got issues, and though many people tell me to “stop focusing on the negative”, that kind of shit is really hard to let-go of, or move past. It’s deeply ingrained in my psyche & part of who I am.
Last year, I wrote of what I experienced during high school, and the extent of the bullying I had endured. The traumatic bullying which left it’s mark on many different facets of my character & behaviour(s) in adulthood, influencing much of the aforementioned. I have just amalgamated & published the content of those Facebook notes, placing them amongst my “About Me” pages, here. The Tales of Three Snatches is honest, and might shock others who were not privy or well-versed on what occurred twenty years ago. However, I’m certain that others, elsewhere, have endured equally as horrific treatment, if not worse. Scary & sad.
Upon publishing the notes to Facebook, of course, their content & embarrassing details reached the ears & eyes of some/all of those whom had committed the heinous acts of bullying upon myself — and then-some! I understand that they were none too pleased that I had regurgitated the past, in such a semi-public, extremely detailed fashion. I had not used their real names, but plenty of people figured-out/remembered who those girls were, and I suppose that my accurate recollections caused the perpetrators embarrassment. One of those girls took it upon herself to contact my mother by telephone, seeking my contact information, angry that I’d “brought-up something that had happened 20 years ago”, that she’d “moved-on & grown-up”, didn’t remember the details I’d (accurately) written-of, and said I was extremely “immature” for rehashing it all. I should have “moved-on”, too.
I’m a Scorpio. We have extremely good memories, especially when it comes to those whom have caused us pain or injury. We don’t forgive, we never forget, and are known to seek retribution — sometimes springing it upon people, many years later. This was one of those instances, indeed. Upon speaking to one of my best friends about the bullying her own teenage son was then enduring, all of the anger & shame I’d felt so many years ago was reignited, and I felt it necessary to share my own story with others.
The perpetrator who contacted my mum: couldn’t remember the details that I had relayed, and likely found it easy to move-on from, because she wasn’t the one on the receiving end of the abuse. Her self-worth had not been effected. Though my mum was unaware of the notes & their content, apparently she made a point of validating what I’d written-of, reminding my one-time tormentor of what had occurred, it’s effects on myself, and the perspective of a parent who’d watched her daughter sink into depression & despair, falling through the cracks at school.
My mum also patiently listened to the explanation offered — what had been going on in that particular perpetrator’s own home then, and the sadness which carries on in her present life. Even then, I knew those girls had problems at home, and as an adult, now recognize how this contributes to behaviours & conduct outside of home. People who are hurting & feel powerless at home, tend to hurt others, so that they too can feel a sense of empowerment. I know this to be true; I’ve felt & done this myself. Part of me can empathize with the pain that likely motivated those girls to hurt me, back then. (but why ME?)
My one-time bully asked my mum to pass-on her telephone number to myself. My mum suspected that I might receive an apology. I didn’t bother returning the call, preferring that my words really sink-in, and make their mark. Besides, if an apology had been forthcoming, it was too little, too late. Remorseful or not, nothing can undo the damage which was inflicted by those girls. I’m quite certain that I’d also have received an angry tirade of admonishment & scathing words for having caused them embarrassment, years later. I wasn’t about to waste my money, making a long-distance phone call, to listen to that. Would you? Probably not!
So why am I bothering to revisit this topic again, and in a more public fashion? Because it sheds light on what’s contributed to who I am now, and the amount of personal work that I have only just begun to work-on — for the sake of my own well-being & emotional health. Also, I spent time with my visiting friend Annette last week. I’d mentioned she & her 16 year-old son in the Facebook note(s), and once again, was told of her gentle son having stood-up on behalf of a fellow student who was being bullied.
My friend’s son is a gentle giant, sweet, well mannered, a good student, respectful, and everything that a parent could want their son to be. A fine young man! He recently punched-out a couple of schoolmates, who’d taken it upon themselves to cruelly harass & intimidate a girl in his school. The girl’s father is mulatto, but despite looking mostly Caucasian, she has inherited some of his Afro/Caribbean features: full lips, a wider & flatter nose, and an afro. Her ignorant, small town redneck tormentors cat-called & harassed her, slinging racial slurs such “nigger”, “negro”, and “half-breed” at her. Disgusting, and utterly humiliating for the young woman!
My friend’s son is also a “half-breed”: my friend is Native/First Nations/Aboriginal. Her son’s father is Caucasian. My friend’s son is fair skinned, and his blended ethnicity isn’t apparent to others. He overheard & witnessed the humiliating abuse being hurled at the young, aforementioned woman, and took it upon himself to punch the perpetrators in the head(s).
**applause!!**
Once again, I am extremely proud of him for his actions & concern for others, and applaud his parents for raising him to be such a fine, young man. I could have used a guardian angel like him, during my own high school experience, but as an adult, am not only honored that he’s been my friend for 14 years, but happens to be part of whom I consider as a member of my “extended family”.
Way-to-go, David! “Darth Kater” is unspeakably, indescribably proud of you!
To those of you who happen to be, whom know, or have raised children to be as fine as my friend’s son: I commend, applaud, and thank you, too!
That piece of fiercely f’ug not-so-sexiness, dearies, was nearly sixteen year-old me! The year after the horrible bullying had occurred. I don’t have a photo of myself from my 1989-90 school year, because I was truant the day school photos were taken, knew that I’d be targeted whilst in the line-up to get my photo taken, and really didn’t want a photo to remember the year I had to repeat ninth grade!
Scorpio- Sunday, January 24, 2010.
Something important in your life is now getting sorted out. These things take time, but in this age of rapid acceleration, nothing seems to happen fast enough. Even so, the current is sweeping you forward at an alarming pace. A crucial point of no return has been reached. The only direction to go is forward. The show is now about to commence.
Once again, Phil Booth is correct about myself, but I can only hope that he’s 100% accurate about my “going forward”, and “show about to commence”. `Bout damn time, hey?
No, this isn’t an Obama reference. Just want to clarify.
After recently talking through Facebook messages (because she defriended me) I’ve come to the conclusion that you can’t save everybody. Even though this person felt the need to “save” everyone she met, she couldn’t do it. I’ve tried to be there through EVERYTHING, and while she denies it, I’ve had way too many people tell me I must really care for her and be a really good friend to have stuck by her side like that. I’m not trying to boast, and I didn’t give these people false or altered facts to get them on “my side”. I just believe it’s the truth. Fact of the matter is, I’m having a lot of fun and while I have bad days, my life is going really well. There’s not too much to complain about. And my real friends are the best friends and the best kinds of people that you would ever want to meet or know. They make you happy and make you smile. You laugh about nothing and those inside jokes light your day up. So whether or not this particular person calls me a good friend or a friend at all doesn’t bother me. I know what I’ve done to try and help her. Whether or not she took that help was her choice. Her options got her where she is today, and she can live with that. I hope she’s happy, honestly. If she’s not, there’s not much I can do anymore. I’m going to get on and live my life. My incredible and amazing boyfriend by my side.
There’s nothing more to say about this really. What’s done is done. Speaking of being done, one of my dear good friends Melissa deleted her Facebook. She said she was going to, and we all kinda-sorta believed her. It’s true. She did it. I’m kind of sad because I won’t get to read her funny status updates, but at least there’s still text and Twitter (the God of technological communication).
To sum up this blog, I lost a friend who I’ve been losing over time now; however, although I lost a friend, I made a new one. He’s awesome and he’s very open. While he is this girls’ ex boyfriend (I’m not talking to him to get back at her) we’ve become good friends. He may actually have a thing with a friend of mine, but no more talk of that until I have major proof. You win some, you lose some, and sometimes the outcome isn’t what you expected. All in all, I’m happy and my life is only getting started. You have to get over the small speed bumps before you can enjoy the ride.
*yawn* I woke up at exactly 8am today, I’m still sleepy tho’ since I slept late last night watching CHUCK (it’s a pretty interesting series, by the way) but I’m glad since i don’t hafta go to school waaaay early than usual(my class isn’t until 1pm)ヽ(´ー｀)ﾉ
Well, anyways, I ain’t got anything to do since almost everyone’s still asleep here and my siblings have already gone to school.
tho’ I noticed that I seemed to be craving coffee these days, apart from the usual craving of chocolate milk (yes, i’m a kid at heart:))(ﾟ⊿ﾟ)
I ended up surfing the web and such….opened my facebook account and browsed for something new and interesting(￣ー￣).
Instead, I stumbled upon my “old-and-not-paid-any-attention-to-it-before” facebook notes and decided to reread it.
BORED.BORED.BORED…..it’s so freakin’ quiet here….so I turned my music up to annoy everyone!HAHAHAHA *evilgrin*
Speaking of music, I’m currently LSS-ing over “LONELY in GORGEOUS” by Asian singer Tommyheavenly6 (okaaaaaaay….it’s a weird name), it’s the openening theme song in “Paradise Kiss” which aired on Animax a few years ago.
I image-googled TommyHeavenly6 only to find out that SHE LOOKS EXACTLY like my sister’s high school classmate (…..or is it the other way around?hahaha), on top of that she also looks like K-POP/J-POP singer BOA KWON as well!!!!!(ﾟДﾟ)! ( why do Asians look alike more often than usual??) see for yourself.
My OTAKU-senses are tingling again（・Ａ・）= I had an intense urge to read MANGA’s these past few weeks!I just already finished reading:
Fushigi Yuugi———————————————ALL-TIME FAVORITE!
Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden
Zettai Kareshi / Absolute Boyfriend——————FAVORITE!
Onishii Study———————————————FAVORITE!
La Corda D’Oro Primmo/Seconda Passo
Rave
Ohoshisama ni Sasemasen/i Won’t Let you Become a Star
Couple
Ayashi no Ceres
Most of them are of the great YUU WATASE! *all hail**bows down*, Her mangas are the BEST for me! I love the way she draws and the way she writes her stories!It’s just so hilarious and romantically sweet as well!They’re really a good read!(´ー`)So, please check them out, ‘kay? (BEST FREE ALL TITLES MANGAs=MANGAFOX.com)*two thumbs up!*
Link:: www.mangafox.com
So Well, that was my morning!(I wonder what will happen later???)
My Tuesday morning round-up of the best of my Tweetdeck turned up a real gem – a revised Ladder of Engagement and subsequent post from the good folks at Forrester (and authors of the seminal lime green tome Groundswell).
Bernoff, Li and company first introduced the concept of a ladder in 2006 to illustrate the emerging “science” of social technographics. Social technographics work much like traditional demographics – it’s about attempting to create profiles of people’s online interactions and assign “rungs” to levels of behaviour, or levels of interaction. Social Technographics can be used to generate insights, to test technologies, and to measure interactions. The 2006 version of the Ladder of Engagement included the following categories, or levels of online participation (from top to bottom):
Creators – content generators who maintain a website, write a blog, create videos, podcast etc.
Critics – participate in rating/reviewing products, contribute to forums, comment on blogs, wikis etc
Collectors – use RSS to “collect” content, bookmark and tag content (like photos), use aggregators such as Google Reader, Netvibes or StumbleUpon (among a zillion others)
Joiners – register for social networking sites
Spectators – read, watch, and listen but don’t contribute much to the conversation (although they are present)
Inactives – none of the above
The ladder is an useful image, since people climb up and down the rungs depending on their motivation to interact, their comfort level with new technologies, and most importantly, their level of engagement. They also shift as our world gets a little more digital, and more brands hop on the social media bandwagon.
Today’s revised ladder includes an important new rung, or category of online participation. The Conversationalist lands just under the Creators, and according to Forrester Research, accounts for 33% of online behaviour. Over half of these are Chatty Cathy’s rather than Chatty Chads, and over two-thirds are over 30. The Conversationalist actively participates in social networking, and updates his or her status at least weekly. Conversationalists are the real users of Facebook (and the reason, we can assume, behind many of the interface changes since its’ launch), and those who Tweet. It’s content, but it isn’t quite Creator content. Although I do have a few Facebook friends whose droll and witty status updates should really be published in a coffee table book of snark.
I started to think about what engages the conversationalist. Why do these prolific status-ticians (made that one up) take the time to use their chosen social platforms? Why do they retweet, but not take the next step into the creator behaviours mentioned above? What does the emergence of the conversationalist mean for brands? The Facebook update, no matter how well thought out, isn’t the same as a meaningful exchange between between a company or organization and its’ customers or clients. On Facebook, the conversations happen between people who have, in whatever level of reality, a human connection. And it’s so easy to take it further, to like or comment on someone else’s life. Tweeters tweet to their followers because someone out there is listening, and someone might respond, or connect based on shared interests. We were all pretty pleased to see Jeff Bridges win a Golden Globe. We were pretty disgusted with our Prime Minister’s recent display of arrogance.
But I digress (see how easy that was?)…..
The intrinsic need to connect paired with an intuitive, “safe”, and personal platform for doing so means that conversationalists can converse without the marketing noize of the internetz. “I ignore the ads, I only read the status updates.”
What’s a wallflower brand to do? Here are some questions to ask:
Does your brand successfully replicate the human connection that conversationalists seek? Are there humans at your brand? Or Muppets, at least?
What steps can you take to create relationships so that conversationalists draw value from your interactions?
Are you listening, but not conversing? (see figure 1)
I’m really hoping for feedback on this one. And now, I’m off to scroll through Facebook to see if anyone has anything droll and witty to say.
The IRS form to claim the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and the $6,500 tax credit for long-time residents has finally been published by the IRS. We have the form and the instructions available on our web site.
Follow this link to our web site and click on the link at the bottom of the home page. There is also a link just below the link to the tax credit form that will take you to the instructions for completing the form.
Read More!
Share this with your friends and family…
Your friend in the real estate business,
Shelli Dore
Friend me on Facebook!
Connect with me on LinkedIn!
Follow me on Twitter!
…Remember! The next time you are in a conversation with someone who is thinking about a move – IN ANY CITY OR STATE IN THE US OR CANADA – call me first! I can help make sure your friends, family members and work associates are very well taken care of.
*Social media: Good old Apophenia calls Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg out on the carpet for saying that the “age of privacy is over,” claiming (rightly, in my opinion, though maybe obviously), “There isn’t some radical shift in norms taking place. What’s changing is the opportunity to be public and the potential gain from doing so.” I recommend that you read this.
*Language: Do we need to get rid of the verb to be? I’m ambivalent. “The little word ‘is’ has its tragedies,” as they say.
*Literature: Camus died in a car crash 50 years ago this month. A Piece of Monologue gathered up a bunch of commentary on his life and work. I always liked his books because they were so heavy-seeming, while also being so short. So, so short.
*Film: Mel Gibson is making a Viking movie which will probably be filmed entirely in harsh, guttural Old Norse. I’d like to nominate Visanthe Shiancoe for one of the leads.
*Tapes: More of the amazing White Tape Project can be seen here. Also, the first tape I ever purchased was by Oakland’s Too Short. I can’t articulate what was motivating me at the time. [coudal]
*Prices: This blog post has a chart on the relative price of liquids that will make you want to put your HP Black Ink #45 behind lock and key. Probably behind a picture. [marginal revolution]
*Cinema: Classily titled blog Pop Hangover catalogs the saddest IMDB profiles ever. Profiles such as those of Nick Vukelic, whose sole credit is as “Drugged Out Loser” in “10 Things I Hate About You.”
*Food: I’m starting to get worried about Eat Me Daily.
*Comedy: If you watch Nick Swardson’s short “28 Drinks Later,” please note that I worked with his mother many years ago. She was a punctilious copyeditor with a scratchy voice.
If you’ve spent any time tooling around Twitter, Facebook or the like, you’ve probably seen—and clicked—on shortened links to webpages. The most common short URLs start with ‘bit.ly,’ ‘ow.ly’ or ‘tinyurl.com.’
With a URL shortener, you can reduce this: http://smallbizbigtime.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/do-you-need-a-facebook-group-or-fanbrand-page/ (gulp!)
to this:
http://bit.ly/4IXYAc (ah!)
Such shortening is essential when posting links on Twitter, with its limited, 140-character messaging, as well as when updating your status on other social sites. Those long URLs are clunky and junky. The shortened URLs are lean and clean.
If you want to keep your links short and tweet, here are a few pointers about the most commonly used URL shorterners.
bit.ly
This service is the URL shortener associated with Twitter since midyear 2009. Simply paste a long link, and the site will shorten it for you. If you create an account on the site, you can link to your Twitter account(s) for quick, easy posting and view click-through tracking and post history. I personally find it very helpful to see what links evoke the most number of clicks—very handy. Also, you can create a custom name for your link so that it’s simple to remember. The site also accommodates the uploading of files, though I’ve personally hit glitches when attempting this.
bit.ly – sign up to track your clicks, customize your links, post directly to Twitter accounts
tinyurl.com
This site, formerly Twitter’s default URL shortener, is another good go-to when you want to personal the shortened URL. You don’t have to create an account to use the service, and you can customize your URL for memorability. For example, I created this link for my singer-songwriter husband’s Facebook fan page: http://tinyurl.com/jpfanpage. You won’t be able to keep up with click-throughs or access a history of your shortened URLs with this service, however.
tinyurl.com – no sign-up required, custom URLs, no link history information
ow.ly
This service is associated with the popular Twitter client HootSuite, though you can access the site directly for quick URL reduction. Like bit.ly, there are added benefits if you create an account (file uploads, direct posts to Twitter and other social networks), though you must use through HootSuite to have access click-through stats and link history. There’s talk of making more features available to those who don’t utilize HootSuite, but we’ll see. The ow.ly team touts more privacy on link creation data versus bit.ly, if that means anything to you (it doesn’t to me, really; I create shortened links specifically for public use, after all).
ow.ly – best if used with HootSuite, easy sharing functionality to multiple social sites
For what it’s worth, I’m good with bit.ly these days. I dabble with all three, but I stick with bit.ly because of the easy access to click-through history. I suppose if I was a HootSuite user, ow.ly would be the way to go.
No matter what service you choose, bear in mind that nothing’s permanent in the ever-evolving world of social media tools. Just as tinyurl.com has waned since Twitter aligned with bit.ly, there will certainly come a time when another new service becomes the preferred alternative. Google’s introduced goo.gl, its own variant of this concept, usable only within itsproducts and the Firefox toolbar; Facebook’s toyed with its own link shortener as well. More will surely come.
As a service may fall by the wayside, so may the links you once created. The word for that is “linkrot.” And in the biz of URL shortener, it just might be hard for any of these guys to create a sustainable business model long term, thus the links these services create may eventually become broken.
Yet as long as we have some way to shorten and share, our links will continue to be the ties that bind!
I value relationships. Authentic friendships. True communication.
So it’s no surprise that the one thing about social media that really makes me crazy is to see companies leap into the network, develop relationships around a product or cause, only to abandon the outreach when they realize they (a) just don’t get it or (b) don’t have the time for it.
I’ve got news for you. You don’t have to be on Twitter. You don’t even have to be on Facebook.
If you feel the need to be present because that’s where your customers are living, working and talking about you, then do your legwork first.
Listen. Find some people you admire and who seem to “get it.” Follow them and see how they do it. Determine if you have something useful (and I emphasize the word useful) to contribute to the conversation. Think long and hard about the time, energy and effort you are willing to put into this venture. Focus on long-term. Will you be able to keep it up for six months, a year, three years, ten years – even as it changes and evolves? Are you willing to commit to staying up with an ever-changing, ever-evolving, albeit extremely exciting environment? Will you work it into your overall business strategy across platforms?
You wouldn’t go find a customer, befriend him for a few exciting weeks and then abandon him in person. Don’t do it online.
I thank You God that You have called my friend to Yourself. You want my friend to be healed and complete. I am praying that Your will would be done in my friend’s life as it is in heaven. I pray that Your Kingdom will come in my friend’s life right now now in Jesus name. Let my friend experience Your peace, Your righteousness and Your joy in the Holy Ghost. I ask that You lift the veil that is covering my friend’s eyes. I ask for opportunities for me and others to share the truth of your gospel with my friend and I thank you it contains power to save them. I make myself available to You now Holy Spirit to move on me to work as Your ambassador to my friend. I praise You. I thank You for the promise of angels, those ministering spirits, to go to my friend now and move them towards an encounter with You. I commit to discipling, walking with my friend when they come to know you; to connect them to a group, a church and Your Word; to baptise them and teach them to obey your command to love.
Right now I understand that your word says that I have mighty weapons to demolish strongholds – powers that prevent my friend being saved – and so I ask that You would reveal those strongholds to me now so that I can demolish them in Jesus Name. Right now I demolish those specific arguments which I name and replace them with the truth of Your word. All thought patterns and ways of thinking and beliefs and high things that set themselves up against the knowledge of God I destroy now in Jesus name. I take every thought captive into the obedience of Jesus Christ. Amen.
You will save them, Lord. I am rejoicing. You are glorified. I see them living in heaven with me. I see them in church. I see them delivered. I thank you. I THANK You. I will pray this prayer every day.
Matthew 11:27, 1 Tim 2:1-4, Matthew 6:10, Romans 14:17, 2 Cor 4:4, 2 Cor 5:20, Hebrews 1:14, 2 Cor 10:4-5, Romans 1:14-15, 1 John 5:14, 2 Chr 7:14.
In Farmville, player has to administer his admit farmstead alongside rearing animals and growing vegetables and fruits. In this the player has to create experience points hence that he may impel before to make assets to make a better ranch. Though Farmville is a surely professionally made all games hold a couple of secret cheats to employees out the player either alongside finance or experience. These cheats could succor offer you an edge on former players and prepare you one of the top!
The advance user who carries the intuition of computers, memories, assembly code, etc. can download the Cheat Engine. This cheat is basically an free source tool that lets a player to modify games variables by scanning for variables internal the game. It allows a player to change thing.
Farmville cheats in getting coins: This cheat is not basically a cheat nonetheless it’s a trick. It allows the player to learn which tree and animals might give you the best bang for the strive. It is actually useful to market the tree once they hold gone through the one harvest. Though, the first gifts do not price whatever coin, yet in the future it gets aloft therefore abundance space. Thus, marketing the crop immediately allows the player to earn coins and saves the time as properly for the beside yield. The player must distinguish the timing of each crop, therefore that he can be competent to harvest the crop outside hours. Else the crop will initiate rotting and the players do not want to waste time in clearing the rotting crops.
Setting aloft macros is a useful Farmville cheat by reason of you could simply record repetitive tasks that you do each one day for Farmville by a program and then just press play and it performs total the actions that you recorded. This is similar to a Farmville bot because it is playing the sport for you hence allowing you to build a big farmstead without task away you!
The only genuine mean to cheat at Farmville is to distinguish entire the secrets and techniques to getting the almost all bang for your fight. Knowing added than past people instantly puts you at an profit hence you could hold the biggest farmstead.
Other sites worth checking out: Cheating in Farmville Some Farmville Cheats Cheating in Farmville How to cheat in Farmville
Had a dream this afternoon (still sleeping for most of the day; cope) that I was lying on the floor of my dorm room, naked, and freezing. The shower was running, but I knew it wasn’t my roomie inside. My neck hurt, like someone had been squeezing it tightly, and my wrists were bruised. I was afraid of the person in the shower, and wanted to get up and get dressed, but I was too scared to move.
Facebook has a lot of weird quizzes you can take, and I just searched the Organism’s profile to see what he’s been doing. He took quiz that’s called, “What evil creature are you?” and his result was “werewolf.”
More appropriate answer: rapist.
One of his statuses was “females in the barracks, can’t believe it” and one of his friends was like, “Get some!” I really, really hope he didn’t. No woman deserves that.
I tried this from 2003 until 2006. Back then I talked about politics & music. I still like music. And I like social media and the possibilities it offers non-profit arts organizations. As traditional media continues to decline, the importance of reaching people in a new way has become obvious. Our budgets are thin and this is free and it’s exploding. It is hard to comprehend why it’s so important, but we can either get ahead of the curve or get left behind. Boomers may respond to TM & direct mail, Gen X might prefer radio & email marketing , Gen Y might prefer RSS & Twitter, but Millennials might prefer Facebook, IM or texting. If we want to reach a new audience, we must learn to communicate to them in the way they prefer. Ignoring one facet could be ignoring a whole segment of our audience and we can’t afford that risk.
I never thought closing this book would be so hard! But as I come to the last two chapters, I found so many things that still need to be said.
But this chapter “Ghosts” is all about reunion and love. About coming around full circle and hope. I have three scenes that are linked, and was having a hell of a time working love scenes to our heroes particular “abilities.”
Wha?
But once the ground work was set up, it started to come together. Sitting in front of a blank screen each time you update is like trying to see the statue, before you begin to chip away the stone. We sit and stare. Then as the ideas begin to form, the story grows. But when you mix Yaoi with Hetero scenes, it get’s a bit tricky, as you have to switch gears between lovers, and get into the minds of our female participants.
Ready to head home!
So it has been interesting for the last week. I did a bit of experimenting myself and teamed up with a really cool guy who was quite the muse for one particular scene, and I had a blast seeing his inner workings. I don’t often do RP when it comes to my updates, but this was a great experiment, and I enjoyed it tremendously. *Thanx MA*
As I prepare for the last chapter, I look forward to bringing our heroes home. There will be some awesome celebrations, and the introductions of Lady Erin and Yuri. Having a Penthouse full of Royals will be interesting. I hope Iason can get his deposit back when they move to the Royal Estates.
Yay Chapter 19!! Um..where did I park?
Thanx again for your patience and support. I ran a bit off my schedule, and a few days over my planned release.
I tried today to get the F-Spot export to Facebook working again(continuing from the other day). I changed the default browser to Firefox, and I took my laptop to a different network. When I came back, it asked me to login to Facebook and everything looked right. But, the export tools just quits at this point:
I have left the tool like this for hours, and still nothing happens.
Writing Tip: It does not matter whether or not you assign yourself writing time each day.
Already, I feel the outrage of veteran writers who adhere to rigid rules of time apportionment. I’ve heard it too: “You must allow yourself a certain number of hours to write – every day.”
And I agree. As a writer, you must carve out a set amount of time every day for writing. It’s also good to have a realistic word count goal, and not stop until you’ve reached it.
So now I’ve executed a complete 360, haven’t I?
No, I have not. I stick to my initial statement: It does not matter whether or not you assign yourself writing time each day … unless you write during that time.
It’s easy to allot a slice of hours and minutes for any given action. It’s harder to use that chunk of time for the purpose designated. If I give myself four hours to write every Monday through Friday, but spend three hours and ten minutes of the alloted time doing something else – even something “writing related” – I haven’t accomplished what I set out to do.
I’ve put together a list of ways to sabotage writing time. If they’re not familiar, you’re probably one of the few authors who has learned to avoid procrastination. Good for you! I’m impressed. But I’m not quite there yet, and I have a feeling I’m not alone. Thus this list.
Novel Detours
Check e-mail. It must be done, but not during writing time. Checking leads to answering. Answering leads to chatting. Chatting lead to lots … and lots … of lost time.
Visit a Social Networking Site. Facebook, Shoutlife, Twitter … to mention just a few. Networking is important, even crucial to building a platform. But writing time is exactly that: time for writing. Networking is not writing and is incredibly time consuming. Find another time slot for it.
Research. It’s unavoidable if you want to make a novel accurate and true-to-life. But it is not writing. It’s easy to feel self-righteous about two hours spent finding out whether plastic tea pitchers existed in 1936. Trouble is, research gets out of hand so easily. While digging into information regarding an intended subject, tidbits of data about a gazillion other topics show up – and before you know it, you’re looking at those as well. I’ve found, through uncomfortable experience, that it’s good to specify a limited amount of time for research. “Writing Time, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., to include no more than one hour of research.” (Better yet, save yourself a headache and just make the pitcher a pitcher – must it be plastic?)
Write other things. Like I’m doing right now. Instead of plowing ahead on my current WIP – an inspirational novel – I’m procrastinating by writing about procrastination. Between projects, this article would be an excellent way to fill my fiercely guarded writing time. But until that novel is finished, I’ll simply find myself another hour or so closer to my deadline, while my characters remain frozen in time, right where I left them yesterday. Articles, short stories, fillers, greeting card verse … they’re all commendable projects. But none get a novel written. Unless and until the author develops an iron will and rigid self-discipline, it’s a good idea to work on the novel to the exclusion of everything else. Once you’ve mastered the ability to park yourself in your writing spot at the same time every day, for the same length of time, then who knows? You may be fine with adding other writing projects to the mix. Or maybe not.
Edit what you’ve already written. I wish I could reclaim all the time I spent editing my last novel. To avoid dealing with a rock wall of writer’s block, I edited my four existing chapters over and over – and over – for nearly a year. When I finally forbade myself the right to change a single word until the book was finished, I broke through that stubborn wall and started writing. It wasn’t necessarily good writing at first. But I was putting words together and making sentences about the characters and situations in that novel. I had plenty of opportunity to cull out the awful stuff later – when the story was told.
Critique a friend’s work. I love working with critique partners. I’ve learned as much about my craft by critiquing and being critiqued as I have by reading books and attending classes. But critiquing is not writing. Enjoy someone else’s work on your own time. (Writing hours belong to your novel, not you.)
Blog. This particular form of online presence has become almost a frenzy. And there’s no doubt that it provides a good medium for staying in touch with readers … friends … family … or simply as a personal journal. (Though I have to admit, the idea of journaling in such a public forum makes me break out in hives.) But posting to a blog, whatever your reason for having one, doesn’t add a thing to your work-in-progress. Blog if you must – just keep it to its own time slot.
Note: The above applies to newsletters, as well. Whether you’re creating, writing, or posting news items, don’t steal from your writing time. If you really want to pursue these activities, schedule a time slot just for them. You might think about writing four days a week and working on your blog and/or newsletter on the fifth day. The point is, keep your writing time pure. Mixing it with other “writing related” pursuits will eventually whittle it down to far less than you started out with.
Write a review. It consists of more than putting words on paper … first you have to read the book. And writers should read. But believe me when I say reviewing can quickly get out of hand. Be careful how many you agree to do. It involves reading, writing, and usually posting to several different online venues. I also like to take time to e-mail the contact with a copy of the review and information on where I’ve posted or plan to post – and this costs another minute or two. Last but not least, writing a review is “writing related.” At the risk of nagging, I’ll say it again: It adds not one jot or tittle to your novel. Consider including review activities on your to-do list for “the fifth day,” right along with maintaining your blog and/or newsletter.
Surf the Web. I’m beyond glad to be rid of my old typewriter with it’s correction tape and smeary ink cartridge. But that trusty machine had one massive benefit: All it was capable of doing was getting my words onto paper. When I sat down to write, I wrote. Now, my writing instrument has become a time bandit, robbing me of precious seconds, minutes and hours. Writers, beware the virtual time warp! You sit down to write, fire up the Web, and ten minutes later your clock has moved forward three hours! Amazing, isn’t it?
Play Online Games. I used to visit games.com on a regular basis. After all, even writers deserve a break now and then! I can’t even venture a guess as to how many times I entered a Boggle gameroom for “one or two rounds” and came out only when the phone rang, my honey hollered “hungry,” or I realized I needed to visit the restroom – badly– two hours later. Games are enjoyable pastimes, but even word fun like Boggle and Scrabble doesn’t qualify as writing. Play when you’re not supposed to be creating a novel.
Make a phone call. About the time you start to really get into the next chapter, a mental alarm goes off. You intended to call someone today – a friend or family member, a business associate, a bill collector, the winner of your latest blog contest … someone. Immediate instinct is to reach for the telephone, but don’t. Keep a notepad beside your computer. When you remember something you need to do, jot it down. Now you’ve lost ten seconds, rather than the five minutes to half an hour you’d forfeit if you made that call. It’s also helpful to keep a to-do list. Lay it out the night before. Include those calls you need to make, and slide them into their proper time slot – which is not in the middle of your writing time.
Take a phone call. Here’s the deal: Ignore the telephone during writing hours. Let your answering machine do what it’s there for. Return calls after you’ve written those 1,500 words or when the clock strikes whatever time you’ve set as “quitting time.” If you’re a worry wart who will be absolutely certain that last call was the local hospital with news that your 25-year-old baby finally crashed his souped-up Mustang, then do yourself a favor and put the answering machine within hearing distance. You’ll actually hear that overgrown infant asking to borrow another hundred bucks, and you can ignore him and go back to work. Most calls can wait – let them.
That’s it – my half dozen little bites of writing sustenance. I hope it’s beneficial. But why, oh why, are you reading this rather lengthy example of procrastination instead of starting that next chapter?
*tagged by Venus Camacho on Facebook; was originally entitled as This made my hair on the back of my neck stand up and was written by Maya Baltazar Herrera
There are no children here
This week, I went to a meeting at the UP School of Economics and I came
away with renewed belief in the value of the UP experience.
If you speak to anyone from UP – student, professor, alumnus – you will get
no Latin slogans or apologies about how the school teaches values in spite
of its outward materialism. This is not a student population that thinks about
basketball games or memorizes school songs. This is not a school that
chooses one statement to drill into the minds of its students.
This is not, of course, to say that UP does not care about values. It is that
UP, in its own inimitable way, believes that values cannot be force-fed.
The statue of the naked man that guards the entrance to the campus in
Diliman best represents UP’s approach to all education and the respect for
students that is the center of its educational philosophy. All who come to
this university, regardless of origin, bring themselves naked, carrying nothing
but their thirst; like the proverbial empty teacup, making an offering of self,
waiting to be filled.
Adults
For many students from private schools, the first lesson that is learned
here is that this is a school for adult education. There are no children here,
and that is why no parents are allowed either at freshman orientation or
during enlistment.
The spirit of the oblation lies not in a mother or a father offering up his
child to the world, it is that of the newly adult, freely offering of his self.
I remember quite vividly that moment that drove home how different the
UP education continues to be. It was my daughter’s first semester in
university and she had invited a group of her high school friends to our
house. One of them asked a classmate whether she had gotten her parents
permission form approved for that weekend’s outreach activity. From the
UP population around the table came the mock horrified responses of:
“Permission? ” and “Outreach?”
I thought about it and realized that all of these students were, in fact,
legally adults. I thought it interesting that only the UP students appeared
to appreciate this fact.
Even more interesting was the “outreach” comment. I think back to my own
university years and the last three years that my daughter has been in UP
and am certain there is no lack of civic activity. There are medical
missions, house building projects, tree planting, community work and barrio
work and so on. I realize now that the reaction was not to the activity as
much as it was to the use of the word.
One of the most important differences of the UP campus from all the other
campuses my children considered going to is that this campus has no walls.
Many parents fear this. They are afraid their precious children will not be
protected from the ills of society in a campus that is so open to the rest of
the world.
But UP is open to the world in more ways than just not having the physical
walls.
Community
Being in UP means much more than being a student. This campus is
enmeshed in a community. This community is made up not only of the
transient population of students who go home each night. It includes the many,
many students who lay their heads on dorm pillows each night, enduring time
away from families in the firm belief that this campus will bring them closer to
their dreams. This community includes the families of faculty and employees
who live on campus. It also includes the many people who work not for the
University, but nevertheless work on campus. This community includes the
lady who remembers the brand of cigarette you smoke and automatically
hands it to you in the morning. It includes the gentleman who remembers you
like pepper on your egg sandwich or the one who knows you will dip your fish
balls into two of his sauces, who patiently waits for you to eat your three
sticks before being paid. It includes the woman who saw all her children
through college by selling peanuts every day on campus.
To a UP student, the daily heartbeat of the school is never far away from
the realities of the country. The word outreach suggests that civic activity is
something outside of the normal, something you do once in a while. It must be
immensely difficult to think of community as a thing apart when your campus
experience brings you face to face with all of the world’s realities every day.
Character
All of this probably explains that unmistakable sense of self that you will
find from students who come from this campus.
Here is a campus where all have the same opportunities to learn. But also,
here is a campus that will give all the same opportunities to fail. There are no
guidance counselors who will chase after you because you have been skipping
classes. The attitude this university takes is that you must take the initiative –
for learning, for seeking help, for realizing you need help.
That is not to say that no help exists. But it is help that is not forced upon you.
This is a university rich in both introspection and conversation. On this campus,
the student is constantly exposed to people – faculty, administrators, community
members, other students – who care deeply and passionately about the world.
The conversations are almost never purely cerebral. A single graph can provoke
comments about government policy and its effects on people.
As a result, UP is home to a student population that looks at the world and cares.
It is easy to see pictures of protesting students and dismiss it as radicalism. But
there are few campuses in this country where students go beyond a passing curiosity about what is happening in the world beyond their own lives. There are even fewer universities where students not only care but also actually believe they have a responsibility to make a difference – not in some hazy future – today.
And that, I believe, is what truly forges character. Character is not molded by
speeches or long classes in ethics or theology. Character grows from within. It
begins by being handed the keys to your own self and being told you are in charge; you now have power over yourself and your own actions – and with that power, you take on responsibilities.
Each student in this university goes through his own unique voyage of discovery.
On his voyage, as he decides what he cares about, what he will fight for and what
he will sacrifice, he crafts his own personal values. That is what education is truly about.
I started using Twitter a little more than four weeks ago. Up to that point I mainly used Facebook. A few days after creating my account I updated my Facebook status with my new Twitter info. My post sparked a few replies questioning the usefulness of Twitter. One person called out for “help”, claiming complete Twitter illiteracy. And that is the inspiration for this post. Since both of these platforms are significantly changing communications and media, I thought it a good exercise to compare how they work and the role each plays:
Facebook:
Facebook is about re-connecting with the people you know or knew: old classmates from high school & collage, current friends, co-workers and family members. This is your personal community and Facebook lets you keep in touch with them through photos, videos and status updates.
Your experience on Facebook depends on how witty your status updates are and the number of friends you have. It satisfies all of our voyeuristic tendencies, allowing users to look over their neighbor’s virtual fence and see what’s going on.
If you listen to Mark Zuckerberg you will come to understand that Facebook wants to be your single, one stop online destination. To accomplish this Facebook is pulling everything and anything you do online into Facebook (e.g. Facebook Connect). In addition to games & puzzles, Facebook has social commerce where you can buy flowers from 1-800 Flowers or shop Best Buy, all without leaving the platform.
It is also important to note that most of the user interaction happens on his or her home page. Since everything is dumped right into your newsfeed, Facebook provides little to no incentive for you to explore the site in any depth.
All this said, I believe Facebook is looking and acting more like a portal, similar to Yahoo! or AOL. Obviously it is providing a significantly more advanced portal experience.
Twitter:
Twitter is about personal discovery and finding new people and information. Unlike Facebook, most of your followers are only known virtually. Your Twitter experience depends on who you follow and what you re-tweet. While Facebook connects you to your personal community, Twitter is a connection to the global community. Trending topics, re-tweets, and blog links, all give you a glimpse into the worlds mind in any given day, hour, minute.
Twitter is like Google, before Google became a software company. It provides a new way to navigate the web and find information. It makes you link deeper and deeper into the web as you find more interesting content. Here is my typical Twitter experience: spotting an interesting tweet or trending topic, clicking on the included link to a blog post, finding and clicking on another link to an article referenced in the comments section. I’m now 2-3 pages from where I started.
As I mentioned, each of these platforms are wildly innovative and changing everything we thought we knew about media. Both will continue to play an important but unique role in defining how we communicate in the future. My suggestion is to give both a try.
A strange thing happened early this year, I received the most unexpected request on Facebook and as we close out the first decade of the 21st century it inspired me to look back at the last 10 years and take stock of just how much our world has changed. As we entered the new millennium our fears focused on the Y2K bug and the issues related to coding dates as 2 digits as opposed to 4. Over the past decade broadband internet usage has grown exponentially, Apple introduced us to the i Pod in 2001 and since has sold over 220 million units worldwide. Research in Motion introduced us to the BlackBerry Smart Phone in 2002 and since has sold over 50 million units worldwide. Flash technology reached a point where it became possible to make video players and in 2005 YouTube’s website was launched. In 2004 we were introduced to Facebook and 2007 brought us the 140 character speak of Twitter, ultimately changed the way we communicate and engage with the world around us.
And while all of this technological advancement has been taking place around us it is not the only significant change or perhaps even the most dynamic one to occur. As a population we also became older. In 1999, the median age of Canadians was at 36.4 years of age, in the past decade that number has crept up to 39.5. Those between the ages of 45 and 64 now comprise almost 1 /3 of our entire population and if you account for those up to the age of 90 that number grows from 30% to over 40% of our population and as the Baby Boomers continue to enter into this age grouping those numbers will continue to grow. 1
Unsurprisingly, technology continues to evolve and change at a feverish pace, continually pushing the boundaries of limitation and challenging us to dream beyond today’s reality and into the possibilities of tomorrow. While younger generations tend to accept, utilize and ultimately master these new possibilities, technology’s very surge tends to leave the not accepting in its wake. In a sphere of “here today but gone tomorrow” those not willing to accept, utilize or even keep pace with the changes occurring around them, rightly or wrongly will inevitably become irrelevant or even archaic. And yet that has not and is not happening.
Today rather then allowing technology to define its users, technology’s users are defining it, understanding its value and embracing it for their own purposes. And that group that now represents approximately 40% of our population, surprisingly (or maybe not at all) they have embraced, defined and mastered today’s technology for their own purposes. Having virtually eliminated time and space technology truly allows people to stay connected with not only their closest friends and family but also those who live great distances away. It allows them to chat, share pictures and videos, share stories and understand not only what is happening in their backyards but also in the backyards of far away places. All the while defining how and when they use it.
Oh and that Facebook request, it was from my dad. After accepting it I simply asked him what took him so long!
Let us first reflect on things we do almost everyday. How many of those are actually IMPORTANT and significant? How many of them, on the other hand, it’s completely useless and waste of time? Most of employees stuck on the office from 9 to 5, allow me to ask, how many hours do you actually WORK, but not surfing on the internet, facebooking, blogging, chatting online or even, daydreaming?
OK, let say you use 8 hours to do 10 important things everyday, what if I give you 5? Will you be able to do it? If not, let’s rethink when we were in college, I believe everyone of us experienced to stay overnight in order to meet the deadline assignment.I have this experience myself. I’m a typical ‘well-planned’ and ’start early’ person. It takes me normally 3 weeks to finish an assignment, from research to proofread and print. But of course, things don’t go as I planned sometimes. I had this assignment which I had only 4 days to finish, on top of the impossible deadline, I had also an exam to do before the deadline…which means…I WAS SCREWED!!! I spent hours worrying, thinking of an excuse to get an extension, preparing myself for failing this paper…even if I can write some crap in 4 days…I was frustrated…but again, I know no matter how I complained or worried, I still had to do it….thanks for the encouragement from my beloved, I took it as a challenge…i spent days and nights reading and writing, I read twice faster than usual, I eliminated all the useless information, I read only key points and jotted notes so I didn’t need to read again when writing…i focused and focued…I set myself a target (no of pages which I accomplished everyday) and didn’t stop until 1 reached it…
The result: i used only 3 days to finish a 15 pages assignment with an extra day for proofreading and getting it print beautifully.
An impossible mission seems so possible afterall. A 3 week person turns to a 3 day person, thanks for scratching my limit
What I learn from it is, I can be lazy for 18 days and work only for 3 days when the next assignment comes. (why 3 days but not 4? because I know I can push my limit even further to finish it in 2 days!!)
Now I have 18 days for family, friends, gym ,yoga, movie, music etc etc…I have my personal and social life back
When we have all time in the world, we start using it wastefully: we let ourselves to be drown by useless information, to be distracted and start going to the opposite direction of our goal. We then waste time to realize it and get back to the starting point. In fact, even I worked 3 weeks for my assignment, only 3 days of effort were actually giving results, others were me being lazy by doing something which I thought it’s worth doing (and realized it is not at all)
When we are given a tight schedule, we start choosing what is useful to read, what is important to do and remember and what is right to write. We are focused and straight to the point with no crap.
Furthermore, if we really can’t finish 10 things in 5 hours, please think again, are those 10 things really important? Or only 5 of them are? If so, 5 hours for 5 things is easy…mission accomplished!
“Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate actiion” by Timothy Ferriss
If you want to have a lazy life and don’t want to work 14 hours a day until 60, HAVE IT by focusing ONLY on important things (which make difference and add values) and cutting all crap, stop reading, listening and replying to trash, make your time useful and meaningful. Don’t do things because you feel nice (or obligated to do it). Hard-working is not a golden label, but smart-working is
Just a little to share, on the first working day in 2010, still reading the 4-hour workweek…
Before I talk about any New Year’s resolutions… I want to amend for a post I made on my Facebook, Twitter and MySpace pages promising a picture of myself in a bikini if prosepctive readers clicked the link to my blog. It was a ploy to attract readers. For those of you who thought you were going to see me in a bikini and were dissapointed… here you go:
Okay… now that that’s over with… let’s get to the resolutions…
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First of all… I used to be in really good shape.
When I was in high school and playing baseball regularly… I used to run around my parents wheat field (approx 2 miles) one, two and sometimes three times. Mind you, this was always in either freshly tilled soil or hard, lumpy, dirt cloddy soil where a twisted ankle was beckoning me on every stride. I used to run this course while listening to either the “Rocky” or “Mortal Kombat” movie soundtracks.
When I was in college I completed the “Body for Life” program and effectively created mass hysteria in my fraternity when everyone started to discover my pectoral muscles were generally larger than most of their girlfriends. I ate nothing out of enjoyment… but for the purpose of getting huge. This meant eating A LOT of protein and drinking horrible shakes with the consistency of thick maple syrup.
You have your tickets? To the gun show…
Not that long ago… I was probably the strongest I ever was when I could bench press 275 lbs consistently at 10 reps each time…. maxing out at about 405 lbs. I competed in a strong man competition shortly after that and placed 4th (out of 12). I had to flip a 620 lb tire four times, carry 2-120lb kegs 50 yards apiece, do a farmers carry for 100 yards with two 175 lb torpedo looking objects and push a wheelbarrow loaded with concrete around and obstacle course in limited time.
Nearly pooping my pants while flipping a tire
I was a force.
Now… I have a beer belly (even though I don’t drink that much beer anymore), I get winded easily, I drink WAY to much caffeine, I eat horribly and I’m bored in my workouts when I do get a chance to go to the gym. Don’t let the way I look fool you… I’m out of shape.
So for this reason I have created “Six-Pack Saturday” (SPS). SPS is going to be my way of keeping myself honest and I need you (5) readers to keep me accountable.
I have been working out since I was about 12 years old… but I have never had an actual six-pack. I’ve been able to get huge and buff… but was always lacking in the six-pack department. This was usually the result of drinking too much beer or eating too much McDonalds, Arbys, Taco Bueno, Taco Bell, Taco Stop, Taco Tico, Taco Unlimited, Taco This, Taco That, Taco’s Here There and Everywhere. Fast food is the devil.
Every other Saturday (starting next Saturday), I will post a picture of myself currently… along with my goal picture. Now… I ain’t gay or nothin’… but I certainly wouldn’t mind looking like Ryan Reynolds.
Dude has got the six-pack goin’ on.
I gotta ways to go… maybe I’ll get a tan too…
Now that I’m beyond the point of really feeling like I need to get huge… I would rather be slim and wiry and look ready to fight Wolverine. I think at that point I would be ready to get my full body tattoo (just kidding mom).
Feel free to offer me words of encouragement or tell me how fat my gut is… whatever you feel at the time. My stomach, along with my legs, are the two hardest things for me to work out. I’m using this forum as a way to help motivate me to get the desired stomach that I want. If I have to embarrass myself a little to get there… then I guess it’ll be worth it.
Perhaps “Skinny Legs Sunday” will be next.
I do have a couple other sub-resolutions that aren’t quite taking the precedence the six-pack stomach chiseled from the side of Mount Olympus is… but still important to me nonetheless.
I really want to get my readership up on this blog to a solid 200-300 hits a day and a good 10+ comments per post. Now… these are good hits and good comments. Not hits from people who googled “fat santa” or comments from some spammer trying to sell the newest Styrofoam loveseat. While feeling like I’m worth something in the blogosphere isn’t really the reason why I blog… it certainly doesn’t hurt to get reassured that some people are out there reading and enjoying what I put a decent amount of my time and effort into.
Also… if we can get DLG potty trained by December 31, 2010… that would be an accomplishment. We checked out some books from the library on the subject. Some are informative books for us and the others are picture books for us to read to her. I can’t help but feel a little weird reading the picture books with the continued reference to “pee-pee” and “poo-poo”… it just sounds so silly! But I guess it wouldn’t be appropriate to say something like, “Oh, what a good job you did crapping in the potty!” or “Did you just take a shit?” She’ll learn those references in middle school soon enough.
Is your New Year’s Resolution to reduce the amount of time you spend on Social Media sites? Or maybe it’s to completely stop the time-sucking that is Facebook and Twitter.
Here’s a site you should know about…Web 2.0 Suicide Machine . It allows you to sign out of all your Social Networking sites forever.
“Liberate your newbie friends with a Web2.0 suicide! This machine lets you delete all your energy sucking social-networking profiles, kill your fake virtual friends, and completely do away with your Web2.0 alterego. The machine is just a metaphor for the website which moddr_ is hosting; the belly of the beast where the web2.0 suicide scripts are maintained. Our service currently runs with Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and LinkedIn! Commit NOW!”
This is for serious quitters only. Once you commit Social Networking suicide – there is no going back. It takes less than an hour to delete all traces by the suicide machine. Manual suicide? 9 hours 35 minutes.
Watch videos of those who were brave even to commit, read their last words…and do it if you dare!
I know, you’re thinking who would think that way? The joy of smoking? I’ll tell you who… a smoker! If smoking wasn’t bad for your health, everyone would be doing it! It relaxes you, substitutes snacks, takes away boredom, and not to mention the people you meet when you’re kicked outside to your little “smoking area”. We’ve become like leprosy colonies- looked down on by society- minorities- diseased. I too have become like society and hate the fact that I smoke. NOT because people tell me not to, but because I find myself running out of breath, coughing when I’m not sick, and inconveniencing family and friends. I’ve decided to become a non-smoker. Thanks to FaceBook I’ve found I have many people who support me, so I decided to go a step farther and document this life changing event. I’m hoping I will hear from those who quit before me and from those who want to try to quit along with me. Together we can do this!!
I’m not very good with meds so of course I kept forgetting to take my pills at the correct time, but I didn’t give up. I was determined to take the pills for 2 weeks and also start cutting back on the smokes. once I got down to 5 cigs a day, I was totally amazed, then 3 a day. This past Sunday I had one cigarette and it wasn’t so bad because I told myself what time I would be able to have it and I looked forward to it. Then I thought, how bad would it be if I only had one cigarette a day- that couldn’t hurt. It could be like that glass of wine or beer you have after work. OK, I get it- QUIT! Then there’s the I’m not a quitter- ok all seriousness This is the hardest thing I ever had to do.
Originally Postd by Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a marketing strategist with a specialty in social media.
That piece of fiercely f’ug not-so-sexiness, dearies, was nearly sixteen year-old me! The year after the horrible bullying had occurred. I don’t have a photo of myself from my 1989-90 school year, because I was truant the day school photos were taken, knew that I’d be targeted whilst in the line-up to get my photo taken, and really didn’t want a photo to remember the year I had to repeat ninth grade!
Today’s revised ladder includes an important new rung, or category of online participation. The Conversationalist lands just under the Creators, and according to Forrester Research, accounts for 33% of online behaviour. Over half of these are Chatty Cathy’s rather than Chatty Chads, and over two-thirds are over 30. The Conversationalist actively participates in social networking, and updates his or her status at least weekly. Conversationalists are the real users of Facebook (and the reason, we can assume, behind many of the interface changes since its’ launch), and those who Tweet. It’s content, but it isn’t quite Creator content. Although I do have a few Facebook friends whose droll and witty status updates should really be published in a coffee table book of snark.
If you’ve spent any time tooling around Twitter, Facebook or the like, you’ve probably seen—and clicked—on shortened links to webpages. The most common short URLs start with ‘bit.ly,’ ‘ow.ly’ or ‘tinyurl.com.’
bit.ly
tinyurl.com
ow.ly
