2009 February | Vegas Geek

I’m done with auto-follow on Twitter

February 24, 2009

About 2 months ago I was introduced to a site called SocialToo.com. I created an account and added my Twitter credentials. I turned on the feature that would automatically follow anybody on twitter who started following me.

Yesterday, I canceled my account with SocialToo.com.

One feature they offered that I never used was the automatic direct message for new followers. They gave you a form field where you could craft a message that would be sent via direct message to every new person who follows you on Twitter. At first glance this seems like a cool feature. Send everybody a quick thank you for following. However, as Twitter grows, so do the amount of people who start to abuse features like this. Here was one of the DM’s I got the other day.

This was the final straw for me. It set off the following series of actions:

1. Canceled account at SocialToo.com
2. Used friendorfollow.com to find out who I’m following who’s not following me.
3. Removed over 200 people I follow who started following me to get a follow-back and then stopped following me.

Up until last week my daily Twitter routine was this:
- Auto follow everybody who follows me.
- Each evening check out the profile, latest tweets and website for each new follower.
- Block spam-only twitter accounts from following me (which also unfollows them).

No more! Instead I’ll skip step 1 and move right on to step 2. I’ll follow back anybody who doesn’t appear spammy, has tweets on topics I’m interested in, doesn’t send out self-promotional links on more than 10% of their tweets. I will, of course, still block all spammy twitter accounts.

After 2 days of turning of my auto-follow and cleaning up my twitter follow list, I can honestly say that it’s removed quite a bit of stress. For some reason the spammy automatic DMs were really pissing me off. I’ll be happy if I never see another one!

(quick note: This post is in no way meant to suggest that socialtoo.com has anything to do with the spammy auto-dms. They simply provide a service that other people choose to take advantage of.)

Filed Under: Social Media, Technology Tagged With: spam, twitter

The most expensive RSS feed I read

February 23, 2009

I’m currently following about 60 RSS feeds. Some belong to friends’ blogs, some are news, some are just for entertainment and then there’s a large group that have to do with electronics. In the electronics category, several of them end up talking about newly available gadgets. Seriously, it’s like they know my weak spot.

ThinkGeek with their endless parade of geeky toys, DigitalPhotographyReviews with camera and lens reviews, gizmodo and techcrunch with every bleeding-edge gadget about to hit the market… All of these have the potential to cost me thousands with their eye candy. But, when all is said and done it is The Unofficial Apple Weblog that costs me the most money.

How is that possible, you ask. Camera equipment is so expensive. New gadgets cost a fortune. How is it that all others are trumped by TUAW? 3 simple words: iPhone App Store. Every day when I check Google Reader there is a fresh stream of new apps being reviewed. It’s rare that in a batch of 10 new posts there isn’t at least one app that I want to try out. Sure, these apps only cost a buck here or two bucks there, maybe even five bucks every now and again. But, that is the brilliance in the pricing. “Hey”, I say to myself, “it’s only $2.99.” Zap. There goes three more bucks. “ohhh”, I say, “it’s only $1.99″ Blamo. Another two bucks.

Rinse. Repeat.

Let’s just have a look at some recent posts, shall we?

Feb 23 – Waypoints. Takes your GPS coordinates and records them and allows you to display them on Google map. Nice timing, TUAW. I’m going on a road trip in a few days. This looks like fun. Zing. $2.99

Feb 17 – Colorsplash. What’s that you say? You know I’m a sucker for cool photo apps on my iPhone so you’ll post yet another one that looks like fun? Okie Dokie. Zing. $1.99

Feb 17 – Lux Deluxe. Not content to keep all the fun to yourself, you send me a link to Wired Magazine’s top 10 iPhone games. Hey, thanks for that! Zing. $8.00

That’s just the past week. I could go on and on. But, to save myself the agony, I’ll quit there. But I think you see my point.

It’s too late for me, but safe yourself. Stay clear of this handy RSS feed with solid reviews and day-to-day information about Apple. They are the source of all that’s evil, I tell you. Either that or it’s just a really handy resource for iPhone apps. Curses!

Filed Under: Ranting, Technology Tagged With: gadget

Beer & Blog is going strong

February 20, 2009

It’s been about 6 weeks since our first Beer & Blog gathering and I am really excited about how the event is taking on a life of it’s own. It’s to the point now where it’s not just the core group of people who all met at WordCamp and decided to start this get together. We’re starting to see “friends of friends” stopping in to see what is going on each Thursday at the Freakin’ Frog. I think when they come in and see that we aren’t all sporting pocket-protectors, they seem to relax a bit and actually start to enjoy themselves.

Even though I am perfectly happy with the non-structured social atmosphere that B&B has taken on, I still like to use these events to learn bits and pieces from the people who are attending. I’m interested to see how it would go to do more of a formal topic driven conversation, but I don’t want to scare off any of the people who are here more for the beer and less for the blog. I’m hoping that we can find a happy medium. And, as much as I love the Freakin’ Frog, it’s certainly not the perfect spot for talking to a group of people. The music in the background is just loud enough that it makes it difficult to talk to more than a group of 5 or 10 people. You’d be almost shouting in order to present to a group of 40 which is about our average turnout these days.

Aside from what goes on at B&B, it’s also exciting to see outside events starting to take shape. A few weeks ago we went to a B&B lunch that was organized by @techguy because he’s not able to make it to the Freakin’ Frog on Thursday nights. Also, this Sunday @CineVegas is hosting the Beer and Blog “Black Ties Prohibited” Oscars party. I’m sure there will be many more events like this in the future. I was already thinking of sticking with the “B” theme and setting up a Beer & Blog & Bowling event. We’ll have to see how that pans out.

You can check out some photos from last night’s event on my flickr photostream or in the Beer and Blog Las Vegas flickr group.

So even if you aren’t a blogger or you don’t have a twitter account or you just aren’t technically savvy you should still come to the Freakin’ Frog to hang out with us. I promise, it’s not nearly as geeky as it sounds.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: #bnblv, networking

Twitter Automation

February 16, 2009

It’s no secret that Twitter is wildly popular these days. People all over the world are using Twitter to stay in touch with dozens/hundreds/thousands of people at a time. But the social aspect of Twitter is only one aspect of it’s power. Using Twitter for automation has the potential to be just as powerful and a huge time saver.

Earlier today Mike sent me a link to an article talking about using Twitter for some really cool projects like a gadget that reminds you to water your plant or the ability to tell your house what to do via Twitter using some home automation gadgets from x10. My first thought was “hey, cool.” That was quickly followed by “Darn you, Mike!”

This evening I wanted to see if there would be a way for me to use what I had learned in the article to enhance a project that I already have up and running. The first thing that came to mind was the Photo-a-Week project I put together on Flickr. The way it works currently is, if you want to join you need to give me your email address, I add it to a database and then once a week you receive an email letting you know the topic for the upcoming week. After a little bit of research and roughly 8 lines of code, there is now an automated Twitter element that makes the entire process way easier. Here’s what I did:

1. Created a new Twitter account called @PhotoAWeek
2. Updated the PHP script that sends the weekly emails to also send an update to Twitter with all the pertinent information.

OK, that’s it. Simple, yes. Time saver, yes. Just the tip of the iceberg, most definitely.

This is a really basic example of a way to automate a process using Twitter. I’m really interested to see what other ways people are using Twitter to automate projects and processes. If you know of any links to articles on the topic, please leave them for me in a comment.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: automation, gadget, twitter

My new favorite toy, the xShot

February 15, 2009

I have to say a very big THANK YOU to JustJulie for introducing me to the xShot for the first time back at BlogWorld. Sadly for me, I totally forgot about it until a few weeks back when we were at Beer & Blog and she had it with her again. Once I got my hands on it, I didn’t want to give it back. So, of course I ordered one the next day. Now, I’m hooked!

The xShot is telescoping stick that attaches to the bottom of your camera. Set the timer on your camera for a few seconds, extend the xShot, press the shutter button and hold the camera out in front of yourself… CLICK. You are now part of the action rather than just being behind the camera.

I took my new xShot with me to the Twestival event the other night and took a bunch of shots with it that you can check out on flickr. The bartender even got in on the action, borrowing it to snap a shot of herself.

If you want to get your own xShot, they cost about 30 bucks and if click here to buy one, I’ll make a couple bucks, too.

Here are a few shots taken with the xShot. Once you get yours, upload it to flickr and tag it with xShot.

Kri, Bob, Sarah Sonny, John, Sean
John, Kri
Sarah, John

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: gadget, Photography, xshot

Good group + Good cause = Great Event!

February 13, 2009

Last night we went to the Revolution Lounge at the Mirage casino to take part in the first ever Twestival to raise awareness and money for Charity:Water. Las Vegas was one of roughly 175 cities around the world taking part in the Worldwide event that was organized around the Twitter community.

To give you a little background on Charity:Water, they are a non-profit organization that is bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Over the past few years they have raised over 7 million dollars and funded 1200+ water projects around the world. These projects range from hand-dug wells, deep wells, rainwater harvesting schemes and biosand filters.

The event last night was an absolute blast. The Revolution lounge has interactive tables that are touch sensitive. As you drag your hand across them, a built in screen will paint different objects across the table. Ours painted with flower petals while others used squares & circles and other random shapes. You can see a pic of the table here. Also on the tables they were scrolling all messages on Twitter that included the tag twestival. This of course meant that we would send tweets and then go back to staring at the table to watch our tweet scroll by. In this photo you can see my tweet being scrolled on the table. Of course I had to tweet about it, too. For a geek like me, the Revolution lounge was a very cool place to hang out!

The bar was serving a free drink called a Tweetini. It was basically a lemon drop with Blue Curacao added in. They were crazy-good. You could order other drinks as well, but they were not on the house so it’s no wonder I had 3 Tweetinies which made today at work a fair bit painful. After a few Tweetinies I took it upon myself to ask the DJ if we could “RickRoll this bitch.” He was kind enough to oblige and I made it back to the bar in time to hear the groaning of my friends as Rick Astley started belting out the hits.

If you weren’t able to make it to the Twestival with us last night, you can check out photos from Twestival events all over the world in the Flickr Twestival photo group. Or, if you’d like to get involved with the Charity:Water project, check out their site at charitywater.org/getinvolved/.

Big thanks to Manya for organizing the Las Vegas portion of the Twestival. She did a fantastic job and everybody in attendance had a great time.

Filed Under: Entertainment, General, Social Media

25 Random Things About Me

February 12, 2009

I don’t think I can avoid this one any longer. Just about everybody I know has done the 25 Random things meme on Facebook. I figure it’s about time I jump on board with my own.

As Sarah said on her 25 random things post, this only makes up a small portion of who I am and the weirdness wrapped inside. I, too, may have to do another random things post in the future.

I’m left handed and think it’s cool when I see other people writing with their left hand.
I have more than 1 tattoo I forget about and get surprised when I see them.
I have zero interest in finding/speaking to my biological father.
In June, I’ll celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary.
I changed my name when I turned 18.
I hate it when somebody doesn’t believe something I’m saying.
I don’t like wine or champagne AT ALL.
I love the ocean but hate the beach (sand).
I would love to someday be a published writer.
I have zero interest in traveling to other countries.
I dropped out of high school after the 9th grade (which I failed).
Though I’ve never seen a doctor about it, I’m certain I have ADHD and OCD.
I hate confrontations.
I once broke both wrists at the same time by falling off a 6 foot wall.
I love listening to live music, even if the band isn’t that good.
One year I watched the movie Stripes almost every day after school.
I had written up the plans for a Tivo-like device about 10 years before Tivo came out. Kicking myself for not patenting that one. Oops.
If I hear or see somebody vomit, I have a VERY difficult time not throwing up, too.
I had a flight scheduled (that I ended up skipping) that would have had me in the air at the exact time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. My wife would have FREAKED OUT.
I would rather have a bag of chips than any sort of sweets.
When my daughter was born she didn’t breath for the first 30 seconds. I have never been so scared in my life.
When I was on my way to get my first tattoo I was in a multi-car accident that totaled my car. I had called in sick to work that day.
I have had skin cancer removed from my cheek and my back.
I remember the fax number for a place I worked at over 10 years ago. I used the fax machine maybe 3 times ever.
I know the lyrics to THOUSANDS of songs. But, if you ask me what the song is about, I usually have no idea.

… and now you know.

Filed Under: General, Social Media Tagged With: 25 things, about me

When you know you are right…

February 11, 2009

Last night my wife and I were watching an old episode of Cash Cab that we had recorded on Tivo. We’ve been fans of the show for a long time, so we’ve seen most of the episodes. But, we were happy to find an episode had been recorded that we hadn’t seen yet. Off we go for our virtual ride-along in the Cash Cab…

A group of 3 people get in to the cab. It appears to be a husband/wife team with a friend tagging along. The friend got in first and sat in the back. The wife got in next and sat behind the driver’s seat. The husband gets in last and takes the Hot Seat. This is the seat who must say the official answer to each question. The host, Ben Bailey, does the intro, asks if they want to play, they agree and away they go. First round, easy questions. Ben asks the first easy question. All 3 of the passengers agreed on the simple answer and as the player gave his answer, he nodded his head emphatically several times. Ben confirmed that the answer was correct and they were up $25 bucks. Question 2, another easy one. The team agreed again on the simple answer and as the player gave his answer, he again nodded his head. They, again, got the answer correct.

At this point, I started mimicking his head nodding as we played along from home. We laughed each time it happened.

Several questions went by with the same head nodding occurring as another correct answer was given. But then something interesting happened. A question was asked and instead of the 3 people in the cab immediately agreeing on the correct answer, this time they were unsure. Rather than use a shout-out for help, they decided on an answer. The player in the hot seat give the answer. STRIKE ONE! The answer was incorrect. We backed up Tivo to make sure we just saw what we thought we saw. Sure enough,instead of nodding his head in agreement as he answered, he was shaking his head from side to side. He knew the answer was wrong and gave it anyway.

A few more questions followed and they were all answered correctly with more emphatic nodding to go along. By this time I’m fascinated with how it was playing out. Then, something happened. A question was asked and the players were unsure of the answer. With time running out the player gave an answer that he thought might be correct, but he wasn’t sure. As he gave the answer, his head was still. No head nodding or shaking. This time he simply had no idea if he was right or wrong.

They got the question correct and answered a couple more with head-nodding accuracy until they reached their destination. They risked it all on the double-or-nothing video bonus question and they all nodded along as they gave the answer that they were 100% sure was correct. They exited the cab after winning $1,600.

It makes me wonder what sort of additional information we give off with our body language as we talk to people in our day-to-day lives. I’m sure there are deep-rooted psychological explanations for how this guy was answering the questions and nodding when correct, shaking when incorrect and sitting still when unsure. But, they are all way over my head. But, for me it lead to one of the most interesting rides in the Cash Cab that I’ve seen in quite some time.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: cash cab, psychological

Photo Shoot: Shewchuk

February 8, 2009

After Ryan saw a photo taken at one of our recent photo shoots, he asked if I’d take some photos of him. He wanted some shots that he could use to update the profile pictures on some social networking sites. Knowing how much of a ham Ryan is, it was physically impossible to say no.

Here are some highlights from the shoot:

Ryan’s Senior Photos: