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.
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.
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.
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. 
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.
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.
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.
FlightWait
I will soon be taking a few flights, which I expect as much fun from as a root canal. But at least I can get some nice visual data candy for possible waits from FlightWait.
The shot above is from today, Friday the 21st, the weekend before Christmas weekend. Sucks to be in Chicago and NYC is not much better.
Thanks to Paul’s consistent posting on FlightWait.
Meebo Speeddate
Meebo and SpeedDate, I think it’s a concept that works.
