Disqus

I’m officially done with dealing with comment spam on this blog, and have moved comments to use Disqus. It helped that AVC once again mentioned the company right when I was thinking about what to do. Disqus was very easy to install on WordPress, it took all of two steps and 5 minutes.

ThePlanet Pain »« BeerMenus.com

BrandTags

A very cool site called BrandTags where people can input one word that they think of a brand. It’s a great way to see what people think of a brand, in a very innovative way. Starbucks is right on target.

Thanks to a Tumblr

Bill O’Reilly, The Remix »« iPhone Home Screen Custom Icon

WordPress for iPhone

Just added the iWPhone Plugin for WordPress, that creates a really nice looking version of this blog if you are using an iPhone, like I am prone to do.

Totally easy to install and looks painless so far, took all of 2 minutes and didn’t require me to touch my current theme… beautiful.

No Internets »« Cheyenne Diner

1000 True Fans

Kevin Kelly has a very interesting post for artists; blockbuster hits are not necessary, you only need to engage 1000 True Fans.

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

I feel this is great advice for any artist that wants to live by their art, and the internet makes this effective. A 1000 is a manageable number and is not too intimidating, easy to wrap your head around.

As for the artists that I am a True Fan (or could be), Big Head Todd does a pretty good job (but direct blogging by Todd would be great), NIN is already a superstar but still does a great job for what I’m looking for, and Pete Miser needs to get with the program (he even works in IT!). And yes, I have diverse music taste.

Thanks to Seth.

How to Speak Hip »« Big Head Todd Video

Google Hosted App vs. Gmail

I switched over to Gmail from Yahoo Mail years ago and I moved to a Google Hosted App soon after. I have been using it for quite some time but I am thinking it may be time to switch back to Gmail.

• Both are pretty much the same technology and interface
• To use Google Reader I need to use my Gmail Google Account
• I can’t import my contacts into any web service since most only offer Gmail/YMail/Hotmail options
• Gmail gets new features before Hosted
• Hosted is handy to create sub-accounts for my domain but I don’t tend to use this

Granted, I don’t know of any way to merge my two accounts and it’s always a pain to have archives floating in different places. Something to look into.

Apple Product Evolution from 1976 to 2008 »« FriendFeed

FriendFeed

One of the reasons I have resisted going too crazy with Twitter et al is the time needed and the danger of “yet another place to update.” I’m actually trying to keep an open mind and see how each of these services can be helpful in their own way.

Latest to the list is a service I have a lot of hopes for, FriendFeed. This is one of the most complete aggregation services that I have seen, and gives a great snapshot of what a person is doing. It’s a snap to add services and the display is pretty clean. Now to run it through its paces and see if it keeps being useful.

The site is in closed beta, but I signed up and got an invite later that day, so they can’t be that restrictive.

Google Hosted App vs. Gmail »« Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook

Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook

After much avoiding, I have finally started to checkout some of the “other” social platforms beyond the more typical Myspace and Facebook.

Twitter is a micro blogging platform, allowing for quick Text messages of 180 of less characters. Think of it as just updating your Facebook status. This is especially handy for SMS and mobile phones (but also has Web/IM integration) and for observational posts. You can send a twit to someone by including the @ sign before their nickname, “@acky I am on Twitter!”

Tumblr is more of a multimedia aggregation site, that can pull in your Twitter, Blog and other feeds as well as post audio, video, photos or quotes/links. Right now I have my Tumblr pulling in my blog, flickr, Google Reader shared items, Twitter and my Facebook status. Linking my Facebook status into Twitter was my first question that I have, but it was dead simple to get tumblr to get it.

Updating Twitter with your Facebook status:
Someone has created a php script, Twitterbook that will update Twitter with your status. The instructions were a bit off given that FB has changed its interface since the instructions were written, but someone in the comments gave the correct instructions for finding your FB status feed.

Finding your Facebook Status feed:
1) Go to your profile
2) Under Mini-Feed click “See All”
3) Click on Status Stories
4) You will see a link labeled “My Status” under the View menu

So Facebook will update Twitter that will update Tumblr or Facebook can update Tumblr directly.

So why all the different platforms?

• Twitter for the short obersations and rapid discussions
• Tumblr for the audio, video and aggregation
• Blog for the longer more detailed (and less often) posts
• Facebook for the social and games

[Update: There is also a Facebook Twitter app that will allow you update your FB status from Twitter.

FriendFeed »« Spore as a Casual Game

Tech Logo Evolution

A great post from Neatorama on the evolution of some tech companies logos, with an interesting history of them. As you can see by the image, Apple is included, as is Google, IBM, and others.

Rumor has it that the bite on the Apple logo was a nod to Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science who committed suicide by eating a cyanide-laced apple. Janoff, however, said in an interview that though he was mindful of the “byte/bite” pun (Apple’s slogan back then: “Byte into an Apple”), he designed the logo as such to “prevent the apple from looking like a cherry tomato.” (Source)

In 1998, supposedly at the insistence of Jobs, who had just returned to the company, Apple replaced the rainbow logo (“the most expensive bloody logo ever designed” said Apple President Mike Scott) with a modern-looking, monochrome logo.

Thanks to TechCrunch.

Spore as a Casual Game »« Man to Man Hugs

MSFT To Buy YHOO

It’s not surprising that someone bought Yahoo, they are in a mess and are in desperate need of it… but Microsoft? Wow. It makes sense for them to combine to fight Google but I’m still shocked, mostly because of what both MS and Yahoo used to be in search and how they have dropped off the radar.

Got the news first from Fred. Stories on Marketwatch and WSJ.

Man to Man Hugs »« The 80s

Crowd-Sourcing Music

Scott Adams was able to make a convincing case that nonsense lyrics that could be combined into a hit song. His blog readers contributed lines and a band in Germany, Rivo Drei, made a song out of it. Sounds pretty decent.

She Amazed Me
[audio:http://www.rivodrei.de/musik/RivoDreiSheAmazedMe.mp3]

Hit Me On My iPhone »« What Video Game System to Own