Frida Kahlo likes your status

3 people have commented to me in the last week that I have neglected this blog. I can’t believe I used to blog every day. But blogging is so 2008. Which means, that among other things, I have fallen victim to twitter and Facebook.

These newish modes of communication have led to all sorts of interesting things. As with the blog, I have connected me with some amazing people, and it’s company for a shut-in like me. I have also ‘crowd sourced’ all sorts of information such as possible reasons for the kindy rabbit dying while in my care (the stuff nightmares are made of) and an almost instant translation for this quote from Virgil’s Georgics ’Et secura quies et nescia fallere vita’. Today after I made a post on Facebook about people being eaten by dragons (don’t ask), I got the notification ”Frida Kahlo likes your status”. WIN! if a very weird ‘art and my life’ WIN. But it may explain why it’s all a bit addictive.

The school holidays have also impacted my blogging. Thankfully we are back into full school and kindy mode this coming week. However, this also means sports and ballet are back and with it, the stressful Saturday morning juggle of children. This Saturday past though, art intersected with life as I managed to read some poetry and essays on a NZ artist I am researching while watching my 6-year-old play cricket. Very civilized, although it did earn me a few stares from the other sports parents.

So while I haven’t actually been blogging, I have been musing a lot and have heaps of things to write about. But it will have to wait until I’ve finished my current project and recovered from my birthday tomorrow. My research has been fun and today has led me from Elvis and Hildegard of Bingen, to Nick Cave and Julian of Norwich with a side helping of Barthes and Foucault. Never a dull moment around here. Hang in there – exciting things are coming….

Michael Smither painting – swiped from here. Help me identify it properly and I’ll list the details

[Via http://artandmylife.wordpress.com]

When the Weather's Bad - Conquer Photoshop

One of our local weather guys commented awhile back that droughts often end with floods.  Boy – he wasn’t kidding!  Seems like every time I venture out to take photos and learn more about my new Canon EOS 7D, it rains or is so cold, I can’t stand to be without gloves. I’m not talented enough to work all the little gizmos and dials on my camera with gloves on.

Other days, it has been so dark and gloomy that to get the right exposure, I’ve had to bump up the ISO very high. Problem is the shutter speed then needs to be very slow to allow in enough light, which doesn’t work well for stopping the action.  All in all, not a good combination for capturing Schutzhund dogs doing what they do best – moving very fast!

The weather today in the Atlanta area (Saturday, January 30th) didn’t disappoint (I say facetiously) – rain and 34 degrees.  Good grief!!  Okay, okay – we could have received snow and ice like the Carolinas and Virginia, but still!  So, what’s a person to do when the weather refuses to cooperate on weekend training days? Conquer Photoshop, of course!!

I’ve been fiddling around with Photoshop for several years, and even have taken a few of Scott Kelby’s (Kelby Training and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals) trainings – very helpful – but haven’t had the time to really master even the basics of the program.  I am pleased to report that today I mastered the clone stamp tool.  Yippee!!

As many of you know, this tool is very handy for getting rid of unwanted things in a photograph. At the end of this post is a before and after picture of two puppies wrestling that I’m particularly proud of.  I must admit, I’ve gone a little wild and spent the day doing away with all sorts of annoying things, such as people, power lines, dumpsters, leashes, collars – you name it – it if was in the way of the action – zap! Gone! What power! What excitement!

I also learned out how to copy an eye from one photo and paste it into another photo (see below).  I took a series of pictures of Fila doing a hold and bark.  At one point, her eyes rolled back into her head (yuk!).  In the series, though, was another photo with her eye and head at the same angle as the “just the whites of her eyes” photo.  Using the selection tool, I was able to copy and paste her eye from one photo to the next.  And, yes, I used to clone stamp tool to do some fine tuning.  Pretty cool!

For all of you buried in the snow and ice, stay warm, stay safe!  Thank you for visiting, and may the weather clear soon for all of us, so we can get back to what we enjoy most – snapping pictures of our fearless, furry friends.

[Via http://schutzhundphotography.wordpress.com]

How To Use New Media To Benefit Your Job Search

As a current student I realize sooner than later I will be faced with having to compete with millions of other grads for entry level positions in the working world, and I do understand how important it is to try and stand out, that is why I have been exploring my options with new media and how I can promote myself using it.

• First off start networking yourself online using social networking sites like Twitter, Facebookand LinkedIn. Each one has something different to offer but all share a simple purpose to NETWORK. Using social networking sites allow you to put yourself out there in front of the others, you can gain expert advice in your field of study or help someone else and by doing so gain connections. You get an opportunity to meet a large group of professionals that all share your same career aspirations that are willing to reach out and connect with you…how awesome is that

• Next put yourself online by investing some time to make an online resume. Great sites to build your resume and profiles include Emurse,VisualCV, Carbonmade and GigTide. There are others out there but these are the ones I have found fairly easy to navigate. Carbonmade is more for putting together a portfolio of work and the look of the finished product looks very impressive.

By making an online resume and portfolio you make it that much easier for anyone – including potential employers – to view what you have to offer. None the less it gives you an edge showing your future employer you are fully capable of using new technology methods to market yourself and potentially benefiting their business. By having your resume online it can also make it much easier for you to apply to positions by just sending the link, plus some companies give you the option of sending a website link instead of uploading a resume. You can look at my online resume at emurse to get an idea of what one looks like. I love the fact that my emurse website allows me to post writing samples along with examples of my work.

Think of the possibilities…Having your resume online could help you land a job maybe you weren’t necessarily looking for, maybe a company came across your resume and profile and liked what they saw…poof…new job. Well I like to dream I could be handed a job, who doesn’t?

Blogging about what you are passionate about can also grab a future employer’s attention. Blogging shows people a little bit more about who you are – interests, passions, personality etc. – Depending on what field you go into blogging may be an extremely important factor when coming to landing a position or it may not be relevant, but for someone like myself who is going into communications I feel that more and more employers are looking for people who do have their own blogs and most applications are now asking for your blog site or website address.

I also feel that blogging can allow you to show off your creativeness and depending on how much effort you put into it can set you apart from the rest of the job candidates.

Flickr, YouTube and other online sites can also get you actively involved with future employers.

There are many ways to network yourself and using new media is an excellent way to do it. It helps you reach those people you wouldn’t necessarily be able to. In the competitive world of job hunting, especially for entry level individuals, it is extremely important to remember to network network NETWORK!

[Via http://newmediamak.wordpress.com]

Music Theory

Alexander 

do you like the band Phoenix?

4:36pmBen

yeah

i’ve been hearing them everywhere recently

i liked that one album

i haven’t heard anything else by them

4:36pmAlexander

i got into them recently, thanks to pandora, yeah mostly that one album

they played here last week, but i missed it

neat story

4:37pmBen

i like the song fences a lot

and there’s about 2000 cool remixes of lisztomania or however you spell it

for da clubs

4:37pmAlexander

i like girlfriend and those remixes too

and “if i feel better”

4:38pmBen

good album good album

4:38pmAlexander

yep yep…

so is Santigold just a stage name for Nelly Furtado?

4:38pmBen

i dunno?

i’ve heard of both of those things

but i don’t really know what they are

4:38pmAlexander

i kid i kid

i know they are different

but they sound the same

like leave and leaf

I’m listening to “Electric Feel” by MGMT radio

4:40pmBen

i love that song

4:40pmAlexander

but self-consciously

my jeans are not nearly tight enough

4:40pmBen

hahaha

that is one of the 3 listenable songs on that album

in fact

4:40pmAlexander

there are exactly 3

4:40pmBen

i was talking with someone the other day

4:40pmAlexander

cool, i was too

4:40pmBen

about how the Phoenix album sounds like it ripped off Electric Feel in various ways in about 10 songs

but good, still fun ways

4:41pmAlexander

haha, thats why i like it

Pandora agrees with you, btw

4:41pmBen

like how The Cars ripped themselves off over and over and over

4:41pmAlexander

both go well with cammomile tea

yeah, but its ok to be derivative, if you’re derived from sweet tunes

4:41pmBen

yeah

i have no problem with blantantly ripping off the music of others

as long as you don’t make shitty music i don’t want to listen to

and even then

i just won’t listen to it

4:42pmAlexander

yeah like

4:42pmBen

it’s my laid back approach to creative infringement

4:42pmAlexander

owl city ripped off death cab

but death cab sucks

4:42pmBen

again

i’m aware of those two things

but they might be the same band

as far as i know

4:43pmAlexander

so, its not that owl city is derivative

though they are

its that they suck

4:43pmBen

hahahaha

well it’s like

every indie band now

4:43pmAlexander

god i know

4:43pmBen

is just remaking 80’s songs

that don’t play on 80’s

night

4:43pmAlexander

even their original songs

4:43pmBen

but if you actually listen to the other music from the 80s

4:43pmAlexander

are 80s songs

4:43pmBen

you can’t tell what’s new and whats old

(like seriously, pandora plays songs for me all the time and i don’t know if they’re getting tricky and throwing in a new track the kids like, or if it’s just some 80s song i haven’t heard)

4:44pmAlexander

Talking Heads might as well just rerelease their albums under a new name like “dance floor electric team”

4:44pmBen

hahahahaha

exactly

4:45pmAlexander

this tea is reviving the F out of me

4:45pmBen

dropped dook yet?

that’s always my turning point

4:45pmAlexander

yeah, that felt great

4:45pmBen

once i get that blackened, smelly log out

i’m like a new man

4:45pmAlexander

but it took my last energy reserves

and i wanted to take a nap on the toilet

luckily

i did not

i like the sound of “kids” but i do not approve of the message

grow up, quit fading into the past

no one is really nostalgic for being a little kid

4:47pmBen

ugh

messages

4:47pmAlexander

being a little kid is retarded

4:47pmBen

i make a conscience effort not to let the message of any song sink into my head

i only listen to melodies

which makes me a terrible person

but you know what?

4:47pmAlexander

i let “freshman girls” permeate my consciousness

4:47pmBen

people that write lyrics are idiots

4:47pmAlexander

you write lyrics

4:47pmBen

yeah

well

you’ve heard em

let those sink in

4:48pmAlexander

that sounds dangerous

4:48pmBen

exactly

i think i just picture some singer

4:48pmAlexander

i like songs where the message is “fuck it, lets have some fun”

4:48pmBen

sitting there writing lyrics

thinking he’s changing the world

with a message lke

4:48pmAlexander

i can easiy get on board with that

4:48pmBen

“hey bros, love is neat”

or

“this chick is like, hard to get along with, but i like her anyways”

4:49pmAlexander

John Mayer is furious with you right now

4:49pmBen

yeah

i can get on board with songs about hedonism too

but

4:49pmAlexander

he’ll calm down after he masturbates

4:49pmBen

only if the music makes me want to hedon

4:49pmAlexander

yeah

i like R&B songs too, because I can also get behind a message of getting behind someone

4:50pmBen

hahaha yeah

but see what i mean

those are messageless songs

they’re like

“party your face off”

or “do this chick”

4:50pmAlexander

yeah

4:50pmBen

and there’s a lot of good music

where people try to send you a message

and i’m just like

man, fuck your message

i just want your sweet poppy melodies

4:51pmAlexander

i know its a dumb gimmick, but i like music with downer/sarcastic lyrics set to a fun/dancy/catchy beat

4:51pmBen

Nirvana would love me

4:51pmAlexander

expectations inverted!

ooh, here’s another Phoenix song, “1901″

4:51pmBen

BUT

there is a caveat

lyrics add a layer to the song

4:51pmAlexander

i dont know what the message is, but the song makes me want to ride a bike shirtless with some beer and makeout

4:51pmBen

so i don’t want to sit and listen to the instrumentals of all these songs

the words are part of the music

just not the meaning

and

4:52pmAlexander

yeah, its just an instrument

4:52pmBen

if the words are too lame

i can’t listen to it

4:52pmAlexander

yeah, fucking plain white ts

rhyming words with themselves

4:52pmBen

for instance

4:52pmAlexander

made worse by the fact they suck

4:52pmBenhttp://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/bayside/lovelesswrists.html

awful people

in an awful band

with lyrics so emo

i’m annoyed they were ever written

BUT

somehow

they fucking write poppy ass songs

maybe not this one

but i can’t listen to them

in fact

i would love to beat the shit out of the band members

4:53pmAlexander

haha, that is AWFUL

4:53pmBen

and have them write a song about it

4:53pmAlexander

it reads like a parody

or a papa roach song

4:53pmBen

because they’re just so lame

hahaha yeah

4:54pmAlexander

so we’re agreed

it doesnt matter if your material is derivative

or your message is meaningless

if your beat is fun and your words dont get in the way

its a good song

Fuck

we are the reason backstreet boys exist

4:57pmBen

it’s a necessary evil situation

we’re also the reason The Cars exist

or David Bowie for the most part

4:57pmAlexander

deal

4:57pmBen

or pretty much anybody besides like Bob Dylan

who’s music is fucking boring

save for like 2 songs

4:57pmAlexander

fuck that guy anyway

4:57pmBen

which are only good high

and like

what’s not good high?

4:58pmAlexander

getting arrested

4:58pmBen

fair enough

[Via http://danger2012.wordpress.com]

Facebook Facepalm #3 "1 out of 3 teenagers.../dinosaurs are cool.

Today on Facebook somebody joined the group “1 out of 3 teenagers get STD’s. Join if you think dinosaurs are cool.” And I became very confused. Now, I am aware of several other of these meme-type things; one being something like “90% of Teens do drugs. Join if you like waffles.” And if a person joined that group, that would indirectly imply that they are part of that 90% of teens, correct? So back to the STD/dinosaur group: If joined, that would imply that the person that joined the group DOES have an STD? I’m not entirely sure about this, I may not completely understand, but it is facepalm-worthy nonetheless because the group is just stupid, weather i understand it or not.

[Via http://completenewb.wordpress.com]

The death of Web 2.0

Web 2.0, known to its friends as social media, passed away on January 27, 2010.  It was born to Darcy DiNucci and Tim O’Reilly in the early 2000s.  It is survived by an older sibling, Web 1.0, along with several nieces and nephews.

Services will be held on PCs, laptops, and iPhones throughout the world.

An online battle is brewing.  

In one corner, we have the incumbent advocates of social media, touting its convenience, amiability, and usefulness in providing a free public forum.  

In the other corner, we have a populist uprising urging people to “go outside” and “meet your real neighbors again.”  They cite issues like Facebook owning their users’ “private” information, and that people aren’t really connected to all their online “friends”.

Some may think now that the internet has evolved from “web-as-information-source” to “web-as-participation” platform there’s no turning back.  But a new weapon has emerged in this war that may change everything.

Introducing the “Web 2.0 Suicide Machine.“ 

Based in The Netherlands, the Suicide Machine is a free service that “kills” you off MySpace, LinkedIn, and Twitter.  It originally applied its craft to Facebook as well, but a recent cease and desist letter (along with a block on the machine’s IP address) has temporarily thwarted any further attempts. 

Their coup de grâce consists of:

*Deleting your friends

*Leaving all groups you were member of

*Excluding your account from public search

*Removing all email notifications

*Deleting all wall posts

*Uploading a new profile picture

*Changing your username and password (and not telling you what they are)

They claim this is more effective at removing your information that simply “deactivating” your account.  Furthermore, the online Kevorkians can do it in far less time than it would take to do it yourself.

(But you have to be sure.  Once the process begins, it cannot be stopped.)

So far, the machine boasts over 1,800 ”Social Network Suiciders” with almost 300,000 tweets removed.

A similar service is Italy’s Seppukoo, a play on the ancient samurai practice of disembowelment.  A bit less dramatic than the Suicide Machine, users can reactivate their account anytime they want, and even earn high scores based on how many of their friends commit seppukoo with them.  Although not yet blocked by Facebook, the website has received their own cease and desist letter.

But if you think these measures a bit too extreme, there are alternatives.  John Haydon of Socialbrite.org suggests timing how long you spend on social media sites.  In a clever checklist, he provides information on how to program your computer to clock the amount of time you spend on these sites.

While the idea of getting off the computer, going outside and interacting with the real world is an excellent idea, we should have the fortitude to do it for ourselves, rather than depending on the internet (the same medium that got us into this mess) to do it for us.

[Via http://friedgreenbananafish.wordpress.com]

January 25, 2010

I cannot believe we’re finally near the end of this month.  I have a feeling this week is going to draaaaaag by, but at least I have payday to look forward to.  Although I get to start paying rent all on my own with that paycheck….not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing at the moment. 

*Sigh* Yet again, the dishes are still in the sink from yesterday.  They’re definitely not getting done tonight since I don’t feel like getting soaked and cold, and there are more in there than I want to deal with tonight.  A wise person would have done them all yesterday, when she had plenty of free time…but, no.

I FINALLY got to talk to my friend who had the miscarriage.  It was just on facebook, which means I couldn’t tell how much emotion and stuff was really behind it all…but I think she’s getting by okay.  There was some awkwardness in her classes and work today because of various people knowing and others not knowing.  So I know that had to be a bit rough for her.

My eyes are drooping shut and I still have to get my contacts out and brush my teeth and get into pjs and all of that mess.  Not to mention checking to see if my pants no longer have gum on them. (By the way, funny story: On the day that we’re supposed to start enforcing the gum policy, I sit down in a chair where a child has left gum not under, but ON the seat.  Guess who is very much not pleased.)

So…bedtime is imminent.  Night all.

[Via http://danvi202.wordpress.com]

Why JWOWW Is Shorely A Jersey Whore

Each day for the last month, this site has recieved an average of 100 people searching the following 3 terms:

“JWOW’s tits”

“JWOW naked”

“JWOW fake boobs”

While I realize this clearly some educational research that is being conducted, I was unable to locate any actual pics to satisfy this search. I am pleased to report that I did learn quite a few things about JWOWW and am sorry to break the news that she is a whore. I know, you are shocked as she seems so sweet but here’s proof that she’s for sale:

FAKE TITS – Whores thankfully have huge boobs and JWOWW loves to show them off. While I appreciate her generosity with them, I think these giants funbags are more of a cry for help than a cry for dick.

NUTRIONIST – While I was unable to locate the formal education, it appears she is now giving tips on how HCG drops changed her life. Sounds like exhibit A in a nice lawsuit.

FASHIONISTA - She thinks that other women would want to dress like her and thus has launched a fashion line selling her low-cut shirts. I’ve watched the show each week with at least 2 women in the room and would hear more “what a slut” than “ooh, where can I get a hooker top like that?”

BIKER MODEL - No clue where this came from but am guessing this part of her “I’m so white trash” thing that she has going on –

JWOWW PROMOTIONS – That’s right – from her website “WOWW Promotions caters to the hottest clubs in Long Island and NYC. This is where Jenni hosts the hottest venues and makes her sexy appearances happen.” How does one make a sext appearance happen anyway.

IGNITION NATION- from her website “a car and motorcycle enthusiast website. JWOWW is the VP of Marketing and spokes model for this ever growing social networking site.”

To summarize, JWOW is a VP of Social Networking, Graphic Designer, Motorcycle Bikini Model, Nutrionist, Fashion Designer and all-around whore as she is clearly for sale. I’d like to offer her some free career advice and do something that she is good at – being a dumb whore with tits that guys seems to like.

PRIVATE NOTE TO JWOWW - Can you please hurry up and pose for Hustler as if there was ever a skank who screams Hustler material it was you.

[Via http://dbagjournal.wordpress.com]

Of Siths & Semantics!

Scorpio – Saturday, January 23, 2010.

A complicated and exasperating scenario has brought you face to face with something within yourself that needs to be changed. The solution to the lack of vitality in your heart is to let go of an old sad experience that has lingered on way past its best-by-date. The original trauma came as a result of planetary machinations that are now waning. You have some remarkable skills and one of them is your charisma. Believe in yourself and use it!

Something tells me that astrologer Phil Booth might be stalking me. He’s just far too accurate! (Phil, buddy, I am working on stuff, and coming-along in positive, bigger than baby steps!)

But enough of that New Age, creepy-deepy shit! Here it is: nearly 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon, and I’m laying on my couch, still in my Jedi robe (read: hooded, fleece, lavender bathrobe, emblazoned with white kitty cats), commando (“Nice visual, Kater!”), still yet to shower, or do anything with my day. The day which is now more than half over, and the sun shall begin to set-upon within the next hour & a half. I’ve not even peered through my blinds, let alone even opened them! I am completely skint, with about $1.60 in my wallet, and approximately $4 in my bank account until Monday.

As you can clearly see, I lead a truly glamorous, adventurous life. Glamour, glamour, glamour! `Guess I won’t be making it onto Barcelona’s “V.I.P.” list tonight, huh? I wonder if they’d make an exception if I’d flash them my commando cootch? Hey, Lady GaGa walks around in Bedazzled underpants & little else. If she can get into Barcelona, wearing her undies, Darth Kater ought to be permitted-in, wearing her kitty-emblazoned Jedi bathrobe, flashing her — ahem! — “kitty”, no?

Somehow, I don’t think that would work, even if I were to go to the effort of Bedazzling my box with some shiny rhinestones!

**snapping fingers**

“Darn!” You know I’m heartbroken & shall require therapy for realizing that — once again, I’m simply not cool enough for “V.I.P.” status, don’t you?

Force, I’d probably require therapy for having to be amongst that crowd of phonies, elbow-rubbers, and pretentious name-droppers! That being said: I ought count my blessings for being an unworthy, uncool, piss-poor “nobody”!

Facebook. I ventured there for about ten minutes last night, to copy some of the notes that I had published there last year. As my account was deactivated, five of those ten minutes were spent waiting for the Note application to reappear on my profile. Purposely staying out of the often annoying — or, in my experience — upsetting and hurtful loop, I purposely didn’t look at others’ updates or threads. If people want to update me on their lives, they may do so directly via email, IM, or that new fandangled invention called the “telephone”!

I copied some photos from my albums, clipped some notes, and once again deactivated my Jerkbook account. (Really, there are some big jerks that exist on Facebook! Which is why I now stay away from the place!)

Notes. If you’re interested, you may read the Facebook notes amongst my blog “About Me” pages. They are located in the upper right-hand corner of my blog, amongst some other very relevant, personally-descriptive content. I think that some of you ought to read what I’ve shared amongst those pages.

**attempting Jedi mind trick**

“You should read the notes!”

**waving hand**

“You will read the notes!”

Jedi bathrobe or not: uncertain if such tricks are effective, when not wearing underpants! Perhaps underpants might make my bare behind mind tricks more powerful?

As you were …

[Via http://darthkater.wordpress.com]

Social media experiments caught on film

The U.S. Supreme Court has banned the streaming of L.A.’s Proposition 8 trials via YouTube, but that hasn’t stopped filmmaker John Ireland from posting something to the popular video hosting site. Ireland is creating a series of short movies from the real transcripts from the trial and posting them on YouTube. There has even been rumors of A-list celebrities being involved in the project.

View the trailer here.

Ars Technica reports that the ultimate news sourcing experiment will kick off in February. Five journalists from France, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium will hole themselves up in a remote farmhouse with no internet access, except for access to Facebook and Twitter, to test the efficacy of social media news posts.

France Inter editor Helene Jouan said:

The journalists must then report on as much news as they can using those two mediums—presumably, they can send @ replies and ask other Twitter users questions in order to glean more information. They will have a communal blog where they can report on the news, and they will talk about their experiences on their respective radio stations after the experiment is over. “Our aim is to show that there are different sources of information and to look at the legitimacy of each of these sources.”

[Via http://theoblio.com]

Join Chapman University on Facebook!

Did you know that Chapman University has an official Facebook fan page? Post your responses to photos, videos, news and talk to students, prospective students, parents and others here! To find it, log in to your personal Facebook account, search for “Chapman University” (you’ll see the official logo) and click on “become a fan.”

And check out the other Chapman pages and become fans, too:

–Chapman University Athletics just went live with a page.

–Chapman Alumni Association has a great page with lots of fans and info.

We know other departments probably have fan pages, so let us know and we’ll get the word out. (Don’t forget, you can now comment in this blog, so you can let us know about your fan pages by posting a comment here, too.)

[Via http://chapmannews.wordpress.com]

Social Media

To My Dear Readers,

I am not a social person, no.  I am fantastically awkward around almost anyone and maybe this is what this whole blog is about.  Actually the blog is about all of the weird project THH and I are cooking up–our dreams to become the best Notary Publics in the tri-county area, some sort of get-rich-quick scam and a do a little research that will expose the seedy underbelly and poor grammar of the christian gay-therapy programs.  I am off-topic again.  So this is what I wanted to say:

I may have to leave the comfort of freeloading off my parents soon.  See, I have a job interview coming up and this was largely unplanned for.  I should not have gotten this interview in the first place.  Why?  I’m not actually qualified to do anything.  I have two degrees that have prepared me for sitting in meetings and pretending to look interested, making sarcastic remarks about poor research designs and, frankly, very little else.  The jobs that I am and have been applying for (in the advertising sector) all want whizzes in something called social media.  That would be the facebooks and the myspaces, the blogs and the youtubes.  hell, they even seem to give a shit about twitter.  Though my partner in crime is actually quite a fan of one of these forms of communication, if one could call it that, I really can’t get into it.  Although, here I am typing up this blog post.  I tried to narrow down what I dislike about these social spaces and I haven’t really been able to come up with much.  Perhaps it is the broadness of scope that really bothers me.  Everyone is connected to everyone else, people tell everyone  everything about themselves.  There is so much information, whether pertinent or not, that it is overwhelming; if you meet a new person and then friend them on facebook, without even speaking to them you can learn their favorites, or what they are doing at this moment, their clubs, their relationships.  In a way, this can be good–if you know what you are looking for in people, then you can quite easily find those who have what you don’t like and weed them out.   There is that nagging voice in my head now, so let’s tune her in and see what she is saying. She says:

But Ghastly Girl, this is for fun, ok?  Why do you have to be so serious about everything?

Good call, Lady Voice in My Head, good call.  Why can’t I just have fun and enjoy social media?  I’ll tell you why.  It’s because I am, in fact, quite boring, and I really don’t like fun.  So there you go.

[Via http://kivoinblog.wordpress.com]

Rewind: A Look Back at January 20, 2010

We share a lot of information each day! We are going to capture some of our favorites here each day and highlight our favorite interactions each day with the hope that you’ll find great new people on twitter to connect with.

Here are some of our favorite tweets from today.

Headlines

The Times to Charge for Frequent Access to Its Web Site http://ow.ly/Yzfg

Battle for A Senate Seat Determined by a GOP Tweet http://ow.ly/Ys80

Ad Campaigns

How To Look Good Naked From The W Network http://ow.ly/YLNz (new Zig ad campaign) via @SaraSocialMedia

Scott’s Miracle-Gro Seeds Major League Baseball http://ow.ly/YLFz

Unlike IRS, H&R Block’s Tax Statement in Plain Englishhttp://ow.ly/YLwS

White Castle Taking Reservations for Valentine’s Dayhttp://ow.ly/YK2d

Get a Mac: 5 of Our Favorite Ads [VIDEO] - http://ow.ly/YtmO

Marketing, Branding & Advertising

Why Brands Should Embrace Technological Changehttp://ow.ly/YMsh

Marketing and Procurement Don’t Have to Be Oil and Waterhttp://ow.ly/YLxO

Target Offers ‘Wii Fit Plus Experience’ http://ow.ly/YEaE

Ad Spending to Drop This Quarter, Then Finally Reboundhttp://ow.ly/YK6B

How Focus on the Family Bought a Super Bowl Spothttp://ow.ly/YJSB

Tech

RT @tweetmeme UK Launches Open Data Site: Puts Data.gov to Shame http://retwt.me/1LDTl (via @Dustin_Schmidt)

Analyst: Verizon To Get iPhone In Q3 2010 http://ow.ly/16nOuR

5 Social Sharing Extensions For Firefox: http://ow.ly/YBEv

Create Your Own iPhone or Android App in Minutes With iSites - http://ow.ly/YBbS

Online Marketing, SEO, SEM, PPC

RT @EyeTraffic: Chinese search engine Baidu sues US company over hacking attack | http://j.mp/5DYJlN | #seo | Turning the tables.

Bill Gates Uses Twitter Account to Unveil New Website - http://ow.ly/YKY6

More About Search In The Web Design Process http://ow.ly/YHZu

Apple In Talks to Make Bing the Deafult iPhone Search Engine? - http://ow.ly/YBjO

Social Media News

Online Media Online Media Daily: Twitter Fail Whale Greets Morning Visitors http://ow.ly/16nEAK

Twitter’s Growth Slows Dramatically http://ow.ly/YtrP

RT @foundationmedia: YouTube Debuts Movie Rentals -http://ow.ly/YKVZ #youtube

Twitter Exec: No IPO in 2010 – http://ow.ly/YMTM

Facebook App Notifications Moving to Your Email Inbox -http://ow.ly/YL0R

RT @katharnavas: MySpace Cuts Three Senior Tech VPshttp://ow.ly/YKT9

RT @richquigley @jwharris Cision study on use of SM by journalists in reporting, impact on #PR pros, http://ow.ly/YClT/via @EvansMediaGroup

Twitter Land Grab Coming Soon? http://ow.ly/Ytkf

If You Printed Twitter It Would Cover 350 Million Sheets of Paper [Infographic] - http://ow.ly/YtjT

Hey Chatterbox: Report Sets Sites On Social Media Mavenshttp://ow.ly/YLE1

5 Social Media Lessons From the Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort -http://ow.ly/YL1r

Mobile Marketing & Apps

State of the Union Address to Be Streamed Live on White House iPhone App (via @mashable) http://ow.ly/YKUp

Viral Videos

Anderson Cooper Dives in to Rescue Injured Haitian Boy [VIDEO] - http://ow.ly/YtiY

“Happiness Machine” video from Coca-Cola goes viral (MediaPost):http://ow.ly/YC2w

No Pants Subway Rides Again in 2010 [Video] - http://ow.ly/YtlK

eCommerce, Comparison Shopping

Pants on the Ground Shirts Hit eBay (via @mashable) http://ow.ly/YKRt

Kindle Offers 70% Royalty to Book Publishers and Authorshttp://ow.ly/YJWn

TV, Broadcast & Movies

What the Conan O’Brien Imbroglio Should Teach Him About His Next Gig http://ow.ly/YKnQ via @adage #socialmediainsider #conan

Social Good

RT @secretdaniela How the Hope for Haiti Now Telethon Came Together: MTV’s CEO tells PEOPLE.. http://ow.ly/YKr3

Bowling for Breast Cancer http://ow.ly/YJXO

Support The Locals

RT @TheaterLeague Stay updated on all Theater League news on our main Facebook page: http://bit.ly/66WuAQ

Just Plain Funny

deannsmithkc @EvansMediaGroup Presidents should learn: NEVER MOCK A GUY’S PICKUP TRUCK.

Stats & Case Studies

Kids Spend Every Waking Minute in Front of a Screen [STUDY] -http://ow.ly/YKZm

RT Recognition for our Favorite Twitter Rockstars

Thank you to the follow for following @EvansMediaGroup and RT’ing our content.

chipperd KrisKetz nitinkohlivk merryterry clarinette02 EyeTraffic

markvanbaale AdvertisingLaw christine_tulsa MsBlueswoman

pam_brandpointe billsvision HowellMarketing kdwinnell pamdyer

GlobalVA theSwimBack bailann clarinette02 BroadcastKC rlconrad7

[Via http://evansmediagroup.wordpress.com]

January 20, 2010

If you need a good laugh, try reading through these childrens science exam answers

Q: Name the four seasons.

A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.

A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?

A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour? (brilliant, love this!)

A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?

A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon , and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.

Q: What are steroids?

A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?

A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?

A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.

A: Premature death.

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? ( e.g., abdomen)

A: The body is consisted into three parts — the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain; the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels A, E, I, O, and U.

Q: What is the fibula?

A: A small lie.

Q: What does ‘varicose’ mean? (I do love this one…)

A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term ‘Caesarian Section.’

A: The Caesarian Section is a district in Rome

Q: What does the word ‘benign’ mean?’

A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

Kids Are Quick

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America

MARIA: Here it is.

TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?

CLASS: Maria.

____________________________________

TEACHER : Glenn, how do you spell ‘crocodile?’

GLEN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L’

TEACHER: No, that’s wrong

GLEN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

____________________________________________

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?

DONALD: H I J K L M N O.

TEACHER: What are you talking about?

DONALD: Yesterday you said it’s H to O.

__________________________________

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn’t have ten years ago.

WINNIE: Me!

_________________________________________

TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on ‘My Dog’ is exactly the same as your brother’s. Did you copy his?

CLYDE : No, sir. It’s the same dog.

___________________________________

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?

HAROLD: A teacher

In other news…well, there’s not a whole lot.  Well… I’m going to sign my lease on Friday!  My kid got a 100 on her math test!  I get a week break in just about two weeks.  Unfortunately, I still have not heard something from my friend who was having baby issues.  I’d like to hear what’s going on, but since she doesn’t deign me important enough to tell except as an announcement (for everyone) on facebook, then I figure she must not care if I know, one way or another.  That’s probably bitchy, but I’m a bit hurt about the whole situation. Can’t wait to start moving furniture and getting this place more mine.  Oh, so excited!

[Via http://danvi202.wordpress.com]

User Error: Twitter

I’ve had Twitter since the end of October. I still don’t get it.

The overall purpose.

Maybe I would get it if my friends had it. We could help each other get it. As in get it get it. Right now, I’m clueless. I feel like my older relatives who created a Facebook account recently. When I say older I mean people over the age of 50. They have no idea what the hell they are doing. That’s sort of how I am with Twitter. I’m trying to embrace technology, be ahead of the curve.

I’m thinking: okay, this could be a useful resource for a writer.

I’m a writer.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what the hell is going on.

Here’s my Twitter url: www.twitter.com/jeffreypillow

[Via http://jpillow.wordpress.com]

Off and running...

Big changes for me as 2009 ended and 2010 began.  A whole lot of factors and forces combined to create a perfect storm. And my life got more simple. And I let some things go. I found new levels of knowledge, found new teachers, new mindsets, new horizons, and new ways to think about life and career and living in balance and love.

Life really can be tremendously abundant and flowing when we let go and both believe and take some action. There’s absolutely nothing that can’t be accomplished. And it’s so much easier when I let the naysayers and doubters go. And find people who live in love and openness and faith.

I’t s really cool to not have to hide pieces of myself. I used to be lots of different people. One with friends, another with family, a third with coworkers and clients. But not anymore. I’m me. Stevie Ray. Poetic web developer. Dancer, singer, lover of God. If you want to know what I know or believe, it’s very easy to find. I’m on facebook and twitter and myspace and lots of other places. I expose my expressions, my poetry, my heart, my silly dance, whatever. If you’re not comfortable with that, it’s perfectly cool with me.  Don’t try and change me and I won’t try and change you; best we just go our separate ways.

If, on the other hand, you enjoy the me you see, we should talk. See what we can build together. I love new projects. I love inspiring and helping people. And I love life.

Stylin’,

Stevie Ray

[Via http://stylindesign.wordpress.com]

U.S. money for Russia is linked to Iran nuclear plant

Department of Energy

By Matthew Wald

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department is subsidizing two Russian nuclear institutes that are building key parts of a reactor in Iran that the United States spent years trying to stop, according to a House committee.

The institutes, both in Nizhny Novgorod, gave U.S. officials sales presentations describing their capabilities, and listing the Bushehr reactor, which Russia has agreed to fuel, as one of their projects. One institute is providing control systems, including control room equipment, and the other is providing hundreds of pumps and ventilation fans.

The Energy Department is subsidizing the institutes under the Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention, a program set up after the collapse of the Soviet Union to prevent newly impoverished scientists and their institutions from selling their expertise to states that might be developing nuclear weapons. The United States supplements the salaries of scientists, and pays overhead at those institutes, among others.

It was not immediately clear if the Energy Department was paying the salaries of the scientists involved in the Bushehr reactor. Representative John Dingell, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak, chairman of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, asked that question in a letter sent Wednesday to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.

“What policy logic justifies DOE funding Russian institutes which are providing nuclear technology to Iran?” the letter asked, referring to the acronym for the Department of Energy. “How does this advance our nonproliferation goals?”

Bushehr is a civilian electric power plant, and because of its design, removing its nuclear fuel to recover the plutonium that is the byproduct of its operations would be cumbersome. In addition, Russia has agreed to take back the spent fuel from the plant, so the plutonium cannot be recovered by the Iranians.

But the United States has looked with some alarm at Iran acquiring nuclear expertise. Iran wants to build a plant to enrich uranium, to make its own reactor fuel, but American officials complain that the enrichment technology could also be used to make warheads, with the civilian nuclear program as a fig leaf to justify the new industry. And Iran has announced plans for other reactors.

In a statement, Dingell, a Democrat of Michigan, said “only this administration would complain about proliferation in Iran, as part of President Bush’s axis of evil, and then finance it with American taxpayer dollars.” Stupak called it “schizophrenic foreign policy.”

The United States pays for a variety of projects at numerous “institutes” in Russia and other former Soviet countries. At the Scientific Research Institute of Measuring Systems, which is making control room equipment for Bushehr, for example, the United States is paying $1.15 million for a project for radar mapping of geologic structures, which could be used to locate underground mineral deposits.

A study of the American program by the Government Accountability Office released last month found that while the program was intended to provide support for former Soviet weapons scientists, many of those receiving benefits had done no weapons work and some were not old enough to have worked as scientists during Soviet times.

An Energy Department official testifying before Stupak acknowledged at a hearing Jan. 23 that parts of the program might have outlived the original intent.

At the Energy Department, an official who asked not to be named because his response had not finished going through official channels said that “what we’re doing is very important to engage these scientists as part of a nonproliferation goal.” He said that each sponsored project was approved first by the State Department, the Defense Department and U.S. intelligence agencies, and that the Energy Department did not believe that its sponsorship of programs at institutes that also did work for the Iranians advanced the work of Iran.

[Via http://afteramerica.wordpress.com]

Metric VooDoo on Posterous

Well, it’s finally time to figure out what all the fuss is about with this Posterous stuff… so I  have created an account and at first glance, some of this stuff is pretty darn cool… For example, I can email the innocuous-looking “post@posterous.com” and before I know it, the contents of that email has been posted throughout my web real estate holdings far and wide. If you’ve been looking for a basic tool that will coordinate your micro-blogging, perhaps this is it. Posterous will let you hook up to the standard motley crew: twitter, facebook, linkedin, blogger, tumblr, flickr, picasa, youtube, wordpress, etcetera and so on… it also sneaks friendfeed and delicious in there, which is quite handy. I’ve been using Ping.FM for over a year, partially because it’s handy – that Firefox address bar plugin is awesome, and you can send pings in Gtalk – and partially because Ping transmits to half a bazillion other services very reliably. Lately I’ve been testing out a tool that was ostensibly designed for allowing better corporate Twitter management – a tool called CoTweet. CoTweet lets multiple people tweet on the same twitter account and it allows scheduled tweets. The odd thing I discovered after I started using it is that CoTweet has a connection to Ping.FM. So I spent a lot of time over the last week testing the premise that I could put my kid to work in CoTweet scheduling tweets from here to Enternity and they’d fire off through Ping.fm too, effectively covering ALL my social profiles, one pre-scheduled update at a time. Unfortunately, CoTweet’s Ping connections gets the hiccups every other day. While I can admire CoTweet’s avoidance of reinventing the wheel, their troubles using Ping.FM’s API makes their solution promising, but still somewhat unreliable. This makes CoTweet something I tell all of my corporate consulting clients about, but I am not insisting (yet) they they use it. On the other hand, I’m sitting here in a Gmail account that I only have set up because I needed separate Analytics, Adsense and Adwords for my corporate work, and I’m about to send an EMAIL and simultaneously post to three blogs and half a dozen social profiles with one click…. THAT is cool!

[Via http://metricvoodoo.wordpress.com]

Why should I get on board the bandwagon?

Why is social media important to your brand?

So you have a brand and you are making loads of money, last time you were presented with your Brand Awareness figures your agency told you that they were growing steadily each year.

Why does your brand need to use social media?? Things are going fine, just the way they are.

Imagine if your agency came to you and said that your brand awareness was growing in leaps and bounds and then the next day your accountant came to you and said that you had doubled your profit in the last financial year. I think most business owners and marketers would like that!?! Well social media has the potential to propel your brand out to the masses. It is important for your brand to be apart of social media because that is where the rest of the world is communicating!

Please tell me more…..

Did you know that Facebook has more than two million users? That is a lot of people that your brand could be communicating with.  How many of your friends and family have a Facebook account? All of mine do… the only person that I can think of that is not a Facebook member is my 85 year old Nan.  Everyone is doing it and you would be surprised how many people from the older generations (according to socialnomics the 55-65 year old age group is growing at the fastest rate) are getting on board as well.

So why should my brand get on board?

Well you shouldn’t just get on board because everyone else is doing it! That isn’t a good enough reason. Your consumers are communicating with each other on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. By you getting on board it provides you with a place where you can communicate with them as well.  Instead of only reaching the people that see your advertisement during Rove or read The Daily Telegraph you can reach all of your loyal fans who have chosen to be your fan on Facebook or follow you on Twitter. The best thing about social media is that it encourages people to share the things they like so your fans and followers will be recommending that their friends “check out this brand, they are the greatest”.

Before you know it… your brand awareness will be sky rocketing and your accountant will be your new best friend!

Image courtesy of: Matt Hamm – Flickr

[Via http://mandyburke.wordpress.com]

What Does a Severely Alienated Child look like?

• The child has a relentless hatred for towards the targeted parent.
• The child parrots the Obsessed Alienator, and makes statements against the targeted parent.
• The child does not want to visit or spend any time with the targeted parent.
• Many of the child’s beliefs are enmeshed with the alienator.
• The child’s stated beliefs are delusional and frequently irrational.
• The child is not intimidated by the court.
• Frequently, the child’s reasons are not based on personal experiences with the targeted parent.  Instead, the reasons reflect what the child is told by the Obsessed Alienator. The child has difficulty making any differentiation between the two.
• The child has no ambivalence in his feelings; it’s all hatred, with no ability to see the good.  (Black and White thinking)
• The child has no capacity to feel guilty about how he or she behaves toward the targeted parent; The child cannot forgive any past indiscretions or parenting mistakes.
• The child shares the Obsessed Alienator’s cause. Together, they are in lockstep to denigrate the hated parent.
• The child’s obsessional hatred extends to the targeted parent’s extended family without any guilt or remorse.
• The child can appear like any other normal and healthy child — until asked about the targeted parent, which then triggers the child’s hatred.

by Douglas Darnall, Ph.D.

[Via http://abpworld.wordpress.com]

Damn you, Twittering writers!

It’s not even a little bit newsworthy or original for me to talk about what time-suckers Facebook and Twitter are.  And, while no one ever mentions it, the same can be said for Google Reader, especially if you subscribe to, say, 227 items, and there are in the neighborhood of 400 things to read each day.

Seriously, Google Reader is out of control.  I keep deleting things, and then I’ll add a whole bunch in an afternoon, thus negating any sense of control I might have over this.  And half of it is news items, so it’s not like it’s all crap (not that anyone’s blog I read is crap).  This doesn’t even cover the other Google Reader account I have for pop culture items.  So that’s a whole other hundred items a day from E! and Us Weekly and People and the like.

Other things that are weighing me down: podcast subscriptions on iTunes and my Hulu queue.  I feel like I spend a lot less time actually watching real TV when it’s on – even if it’s the same number of television shows.  But they just build and build during the week, and then I’m all kinds of behind on The Daily Show and other things I generally delight in.

Oh, another.  Google Calendar?  You’re on notice for the tasks list.  Because I actually put in all the information from my various syllabi for the semester, plus outside things that need to get done.  This doesn’t even count things like workshop pieces that I don’t have a schedule for yet.  It was probably a really bad idea to put these things in, but this semester is so ungodly overwhelming that it’ll be tremendously easy for it to all fall apart if I don’t keep a vigilant watch.  (Dear friends, please keep a vigilant watch of the river. Love, Amy)

But I’m not complaining – I swear I’m not.  All of this leads me to a problem with the Internet I didn’t even realize until yesterday.  Yesterday, I was supposed to spend my day at home tip-tapping away toward an article I have due for a local magazine.  An article I’m really excited about writing because a) I’m kind of really digging seeing my name on glossy, colorful paper and b) it’s a topic I’ve been advocating for in my daily life for the past decade.

And then, Twitter.

But not like you’d expect.

On Twitter, I follow many real writers because I like looking inside people’s brains, no matter how false a sense this is because it’s the Internet.  I have even more writers as friends on Facebook.  And they all complain about writing.  Some of them complain all day long.  By the time lunch rolled around yesterday, I had completely talked myself out of writing because none of the famous writers seemed to want to do it.

Seriously, self?

That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done as a result of the Internet, I think.  The whole point of following writers is to be inspired by them.  To remember what I want out of life.  And that it’s maybe, some day far, far away, obtainable at some fractional level of that.  Which will never happen if I let my inspiration get me down.  I mean, I know it’s a job.  And that writing is hard.  And that people bitch about their jobs on social networking sites all the time.  I’m sure a third of the status updates I read are about how people don’t want to be at work.  But this is the good work!  And I don’t get paid for it.  And if I ever want to get paid for it, I need to be hard-assed about doing the free stuff.

So I put you on double-notice, famous writers.  Or I’ll unfriend and unfollow every last one of you.

(Lies.  I’m way too creepy to stop stalking people online.)

[Via http://inthemainstream.wordpress.com]

Top ways to finance small businesses

We look at the best ways to obtain funding for your small business venture.

1. Forward profit generation

This is the most widespread and safest way of funding a business venture.Simply you sell something, make a profit, keep the profit in the business and use the profit to fund the next phase of the business. This should help to ensure that your business is always profitable. It means that your business cannot easy over expand and that growth is controlled.

It is low risk and means that if you business fails, you do not end up losing your house. It also means that you do whatever you can to keep your overheads as low as you possibly can.

2. Savings.

Many people use part or all of their savings to keep them going. Money put aside as savings is a very good way of financing your business. However, it is good to note that this takes great dedication and self control.

3. Redundancy payment

Many people use their redundancy cheque to fund their business. During a time of global economic crunch and meltdown where many people loose their jobs daily, this could be a very good idea.

4. Credit Card

The credit card represents one of the fastest ways to fund your business venture for the new computer or buying stock. You have between 28 and 42 days interest free which you can use to manage cash flow. Try to avoid interest charges as the interest rate can be crippling.

5. Family, Friends and Fools

The classic way of funding a small business was from Family, Friends or Fools.

Of the three, family is often a good way to help you get going. They can help with the early phase and tend to require only a high level overview of the business.

6. Second Job.

You have another job, or your partner has a job which supports you financially while your business gets up and running. The obvious downside is that if you are working, you will not be able to devote all of your time to the new business, but is one avenue that many small business owners are forced to face.

7 Bank Loan

Bank loans are a very widespread way of getting your business going. These could take the form of either a personal loan or a business loan. In many ways these amount to the same thing as most business loans require that you put up some personal security (often your house or business premises) before they will lend to you. Though it is very widespread, the bank loan is personally my second least favourite option.

8 Business Angels

Business Angels are wealthy individuals who can invest in your business. These can be the types of people that you see in the Dragons Den TV show. They can often offer reasonable levels of business help. However once they have a financial stake they can tend to interfere in your business plans and take valuable time to manage. Typical investment levels can be around £120,000. To benefit from such people, you need to be very knowledgeable about everything you do and be able match their level of intelligence. A good tip is to anticipate the sort of questions they will ask before meeting with such individuals.

9. Princes Trust

The Prince’s Trust Business Programme provides money and support to help people start up in business.

aged 18-30

Unemployed or working less than 16 hours a week

Restricted to people living in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Help available

A low interest loan of up to £4,000 (up to £5,000 for a partnership)

Ongoing advice from a business mentor

A grant of up to £1,500 in special circumstances (subject to local availability)

A test marketing grant of up to £250 (subject to local availability)

10. Government Business Grants

This is the least favourite of all my ways of funding your business. Bodies like Business Link claim that they can help you access small business grants, which on the face of it sound like free money. The problem is that they can be almost impossible to obtain, can take up lots of valuable time taking you up a dead end, and then only provide you with half of the money that you require.

Speak to professionals:  Colin: Enterprise Business Centre, 01224-418888 or email colin@hsee.co.uk

11. Small Firms Loan Guarantee scheme

A government backed scheme if you are unable to obtain a conventional loan because you do not have assets to offer as security. The Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) helps to overcome this by providing lenders with a government guarantee against default in certain circumstances.

The main features of the scheme are:

a guarantee to the lender covering 75 per cent of the loan amount, for which the borrower pays a 2 per cent premium on the outstanding balance of the loan

the ability to guarantee loans of up to £250,000 and with terms of up to ten years

availability to qualifying UK businesses with an annual turnover of up to £5.6million

What has been your experiences of financing your business? Leave your comments in the box below.

[Via http://jetheights.wordpress.com]

The darkside of social media....

So today I was exposed to the underbelly of social networking. Ok I’m being dramatic…a little, but oh well. Like seriously, why are you reaching out to me on Facebook to get to a number of a “friend” of mine? Who does that?! We don’t speak, the last time I spoke to you was at our highschool graduation….which was ions ago, so why am I receiving notes from you on Facebook asking me for a friend number?

Granted I get facebook, I loved facebook at first, I truly did. I told you about my facebook stalking experience and the wedding debacle the other night. So I get how facebook allows you to reconnect with “old” friends and acquaintances, I get it. But just because we’re Facebook friends does not give you the right to the following:

1. Asking for friends numbers

2. Asking me for a job (when clearly I’m searching for one myself)

3. Asking to borrow money because we’re family (no, no and no)

4. Flooding my inbox with party invites

5. And random friend requests from questionable parties

This is why my account is private and I am picky with whom I befriend. Maybe I should re-evaluate my friend list and “de-friend” those who fall within one of these categories. Done and done. Am I wrong? What do you think?

[Via http://myfabopinion.wordpress.com]

E-mails, Twitter, Dyslexia...

Today was one of those days. I sat down to my computer, opened one my four e-mails, and had to attend to business.

What I mean by business is responses to inquiries, requests for me to do guest blogs, agreements to invites I’d extended to host writers and authors on my my blog talk radio show, Book Talk, Creativity and Family Matters. All good stuff.

But it took time.

Much like answering people who are now following me on Twitter with Thank-you’s.

This is what I do as an author and writer.

And much more.

Today’s world of the 21st century requires writers and authors to wear many hats. We must multitask.

And yet we cannot forget our writing.

Answering our Tweets, thanking our Facebook friends and fans, checking our goodreads and shelfari invitations, and then seeing what’s new to read make the new package of what we do.

Some bristle at this increase of activity to which it behooves us to apply our writing talent, time and energies.

I find that while challenging, these new social networking sites offer me one more place to extend my writing arm.

While there is youtube, the main form of communication on the Internet is writing.

I also learn a lot about what’s happening in the world, i.e. gain excellent ideas for new plots.

The challenge also makes me focus while providing a relief, thought not always welcomed, from keeping my nose to the grindstone of writing.

Like psychotherapists and mental health workers do our clients a world of good by coming out of our offices and examining the worlds in which we and our clients live, writers owe it our readers, potential ones, and our stories to see what’s truly taking place not simply in our minds, but in the lives of others.

Engagement and interaction with the physical and virtual worlds stirs our imagination in new dimensions.

While we must never forget  our writing, we must also use new developments in technology that we cannot afford to ignore to our best benefit.

Have you taken a close look at what your friends and family are up to  on Facebook?

What was last Tweet you read and/or re-tweeted? Who wrote it? Did you follow them? Did they follow you back?

I saw one today from a person who asked if dyslexia can leave you depressed.

Having a child who is dyslexic and being a psychotherapist, I immediately re-tweeted his question, started following him and the forwarded a brief message sharing what I’ve learned from my daughter.

Interestingly enough, the person presently lives where I grew up while I now live in their birthplace.

A new friend–Twitters love it when someone follows them. And nothing is more flattering than re-tweeting one of more of their Tweets–perhaps an idea for a story, maybe someone interested in reading my work. But most importantly I connected with someone that without the Internet, and social networking, I may have never met.

Do you use social networking as an author or writer?

If so, what sites are you on?

What have been some of your experiences been?

[Via http://anjuellefloyd.wordpress.com]

Going Public Cont.

Curious about the powers of advertising, I decided to test the power of facebook; as I had mentioned earlier, my profile is open to the public.  But, simply making myself visible to everyone doesn’t necessarily mean I would increase traffic by more than a few people.  SO, taking things a step further, I came up with the grand idea of posting my URL in the rear window of my car.

I’ve had people jotting down the address, snapping photos, and taking an extra second to make a mental note.    It’s only been about a week (mainly driving there and back from work), but I’m excited to see how events will play out.

Here’s to an adventure of sorts.

facebook.com/ragingwildflower

[Via http://ragingwildflower.wordpress.com]

Bra Colors and Breast Awareness

So ok there was this thing on Facebook where women were posting their bra colors on Facebook to raise awareness about brest cancer.  I have no idea how breast cancer awareness can be raised by posting your bra color but I played along with my friends.  I was thinking about this, after i read a blog post my friend Katie posted and was wondering if this wasn’t just really insensitive.  I mean think about it.  Breast cancer is about the boobies, and bras are all apart of the boobies, but a lot of women who have survived brest cancer do not have boobies, and in turn don’t wear bras, so they can’t take part.  All this Facebook thing did was tell you to post your bra color, nothing about self checks or nothing.  Is this sort of viral thing insulting to those survivors without breasts?  Does this sort of thing remind them of not having breasts?  Or is this sort of thing harmless fun for people, and that it actually raises awareness of breast cancer and reminds people with boobs to be grateful for them and to do self checks.  I don’t know what do you think?

[Via http://thesexypolitico.wordpress.com]

Facebook Bra Colors, 2

This is in reference to a discussion that got started on Facebook wherein I said I thought the idea of posting your bra color as a way to raise breast cancer awareness was stupid.

First, my response to “Peter’s” comment:

PETER: You are right it won’t help cure it but for the last couple days I bet alot of people who without the color status would not have been thinking about breast cancer. That is what the goal is to make people aware.

4 hours ago

You are right, Peter. As misguided as I think it is, the bra color thing is having an impact. In some ways, that impact is positive, such as that which is outlined at the end of this article in the Washington Post.

My problem with the Facebook bra color meme is that I don’t think it’s raising breast cancer awareness so much as raising breast awareness. I agree that over the past 24 hours, a lot of Facebook users have probably been thinking a great deal more about breasts, as well as bras, but a much smaller portion of those people have been thinking about breast cancer. To wit, a friend of mine on FB posted this status update, with a following comment:

BOB SMITH: Is sitting on the couch and hundreds of women are telling me about their undergarments(one told me nothing)…….I didn’t even have to buy any drinks…..Thank You Facebook!!!!!!!!

JIM BROWN:I’m right there with you man! I cant hit the like button fast enough!

Yesterday at 5:16pm

And here’s another one:

JOHN BROWN: why do people keep posting the word “black” as their status update? Am I missing something?

Yesterday at 2:58pm

TOM SMITH: somehow posting the color of your bra on facebook supports breast cancer.

Yesterday at 3:08pm

TOM SMITH: honestly, it’s just making it harder for me to concentrate on work. i guess that’s what facebook does normally, anyway… Yesterday at 3:08pm

JANE LANE: is that true?

Yesterday at 3:10pm

BARBARA QUO:Seriously? Purported bra colors ate distracting?

Yesterday at 3:10pm

TOM SMITH: yes, it’s true and yes, it’s distracting. the mind does wander…

Yesterday at 3:11pm

Why do I think this is raising more breast awareness than breast cancer awareness? Because it’s arbitrarily drawing people’s attention to women’s breasts without correlating it to breast cancer. Sure, there’s a gradual association, and the mind can make the small leap, when instructed, to consider the color of a woman’s bra as a relation to breast cancer. Without the direct hand-holding, or statement of correlation, however, all the mission really does is conjure up a lot of direct images of women’s bras, that are being worn *right now* on women’s breasts… who the Facebook user reading the status update knows in some way.

Ironically, if there was a random Facebook meme where women suddenly started posting their bra color for no underlying reason, I’d see the humor in it. The thing that irks me about this cheeky little fad is that it spread in popularity so quickly because of a thin association with breast cancer support. The main version of the email that went around reads:

Some fun is going on … just write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of breast cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before people wonder why all the girls have a color in their status Haha.

I have a problem with the idea of women blithely sharing the color of the bras with the world as some show of support because, frankly, it’s trite. Cancer is serious. Popping off a bra color in a status update is giggly and, for some people, salacious. Those two items don’t connect.

I find the show of solidarity to be very heartening, and would love to see that kind of unity among women directed at really accomplishing something. The bra color fad would have far greater gravitas and impact if it were directly linked with breast cancer, not just “boobies.” Here are a few examples of more meritorious and effective versions:

STATUS UPDATE: 186,467 / blue

first comment under update: 186,467 = the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005

STATUS UPDATE: 7th / red

first comment under update: breast cancer is the seventh leading cause of death for women in the United States

STATUS UPDATE: 22% / black

first comment under update: 22% = the percentage of women with breast cancer who died in 2005

Better yet, why not get rid of the bra color altogether? Just stick to the facts.

STATUS UPDATE: 4

first comment under update: the number of breast cancer survivors I know.

STATUS UPDATE: 34

first comment under update: The age of my friend when she died of breast cancer.

STATUS UPDATE: 2

first comment under update: The number of children my friend had when she died of breast cancer.

[Via http://mamaleche.wordpress.com]

Facebook Niftyness!

Ha, I have just recently discovered that my flight from basic has a group on facebook, kind of nifty I must say.  It is nice to talk to them all again and reconnect, basic was a tough time but it was a good time for me and I miss  a lot of the people.  Good times, good memories and good people though I am glad I am not there anymore.

I think I am getting sick or something.  I woke up with a nasty kink in my neck…or something is pinched, I’m not really sure of anything except it hurts.  Then through out the day I have just gotten worse, I feel a bit clouded in general and a little snuffly and stuffy with a sore throat and a headache.  I really hope it doesn’t get any worse, I really really hope it just goes away by tomorrow.

I have tomorrow off, yay Saturday, but I am teaching on Sunday again.  Not too bad because I get an extra day of but I have discovered my supervisor would have given me the day of anyway so that I could unpack the uhaul and get fully moved.  Oh well, hopefully it will be a while before I end up doing this again and it looks good that I volunteer for the extra stuff, right?  Meh, Make it through the four hours of class and then I get a day off.  This week will hopefully pass quickly.  Monday is PT so it’s short, Tuesday will probably just be boring, and Wednesday hubby picks up the Uhaul and packs up!  Then Thursday he is driving and I have Friday off and he will hopefully be here Friday so yay!  He is thinking he will be able to make the drive in one day.  Supposedly it is like a 17 hour drive straight up and that’s if nothing is closed off for weather and without bad traffic.  His plan is to leave super freaking early in the morning and just keep driving until he gets here.  I figure if he can make it that way he would get in at maybe 11ish at night?  If he can’t it will still hopefully have him coming in Friday afternoon so we can get some stuff unloaded then spend a nice weekend hopefully relaxing.  I think we will have to get a storage unit, at least for a bit until he can get his work thing straightened out and get his tool box taken there.  That tool box is a pain that will follow us forever, too bad it is so necessary and too bad I am in a third floor apartment.  I should have tried to get a first floor but I just didn’t want to move all of my stuff again.  Hopefully after six months we will move or something but I doubt it.  By that time we should have extra money floating around but we probably won’t have had the chance to save much.  Probably be here for a year-ish unless the military moves me, bleh.  Oh well, worries for a later time.

[Via http://evanescentsoul.wordpress.com]

Finally... I am done!

Talk about a tumultuous couple of days! I am so sore it’s not funny! I have finally finished repairing my van. I can’t believe it took so damned much to change the spark plugs on that thing! I mean, usually, vans are a pain in the ass, but, this was 10 times worse!

I am just checking in really quick, I am spent. I had hoped to have been done last night so that I could return to the gym tonight, that obviously didn’t happen. I plan on making my return tomorrow. I have some minor tweaking and finishing to do on the van tomorrow, but then i am free to go to the gym. I honestly feel like I have had one hell of a work out already. I mean I have contorted my body into positions I haven’t in years, I have stood at length and been on my knees for extended periods of time (no smart-ass comments please). I am going to sleep well tonight, in fact, I am going to go to bed early too!

I hope the new year is going well for all of you so far. I promise we will start with the weight loss related updates, as well as some really good political and social commentary tomorrow… One word… PROFILING!

Take care until then,

Kenny

<—— Back to Kenny Is Losing It – Home

[Via http://kennyislosingit.wordpress.com]

TheKnwldG. Entertainment x Diamonds In The Kut x Rainman

F@#K Yeah Its Friday! So let’s get F@#K’d up!

TheKnwldG. Is back! Bigger, Better, Stronger, Smarter, Faster! For anyone who was at the last party (Back To The Basics – 90s Hip Hop Night), you know exactly what we are about. On Friday, January 8th , Ritual Nightclub will be the ONLY place that will have you sweatin’ in this frigid white north we call the capital! This being our first set up at Ritual Nightclub, we are making sure it gonna bang hard! Which is why we have put together a heavy line up that will make you forget about school and get you back in the rhyme rhythm with some real, OLD SCHOOL HIP HOP.

TheKnwldG. x Diamonds In The Kut x Rainman

Diamonds In The Kut:

DITK Facebook

DeeJay Frame:

Myspace

Mix

Clip

Collaborations:

MCs:

KRS ONE

JEDI MIND TRICKS

ILL BILL

LITTLE BROTHER

JOE BUDDEN

ROYCE DA 5′9

D12

SOULS OF MISCHIEF

CLASSIFIED

KOOL KEITH

BLU & EXILE

DJs:

PEANUT BUTTER WOLF

J ROCC (Beat Junkies)

GRANDMASTER ROC RAIDA (R.I.P)

TEAM CANADA DJ’S

JAYCEEOH

DJ BENZI

Rainman:

Facebook

Mix1

Mix2

Mix3

Mix4

Mix5

Mix6

For Anyone Who Doesnt Know Where Ritual Is, The Address Is: 137 Besserer Rd. (right across from Les Suites, downtown)

Facebook Event Page

[Via http://theknwldg.wordpress.com]

Dr Reed Shiraki: Great Chiropractor, great leader.

Thanks to Dr Reed Shiraki for the picture

Most chiropractors in my life, mostly teachers, are a valuable source of knowledge. A knowledge I am really grateful that they share with me so I can become a better chiropractor. However, in the chiropractic profession, there is only a handful of chiropractic doctors that really inspire me. The first one that comes up in my mind is Doctor Reed Shiraki from Hawaii. So how can a chiropractic student from Quebec, Canada can be aware of such a man?

You tech savy readers probably know how social media is all about sharing. A little less than a year ago, someone in my list of Facebook friends posted this video:

I was impressed by his adjustment skills. At that time, I had adjusted  less than a dozen spines and my speed and precision was no way near his. Anyway, I was  interested enough to take a look at his website at http://honorboxchiropractic.com/

There, I read about a thing called the Honor Box, a way to make sure that everyone can afford chiropractic care, an issue that troubled me ever since I started my chiropractic doctoral program.  Not everyone has insurance  covering chiropractic and as I said in my last post, the Quebec government doesn’t cover the cost of chiropractic care while it does for medical care. I’ve had patients who had to stop treatments due to their financial situation. Dr Shiraki’s Honor Box is a way for less fortunate patients to pay what they can afford; I plan on using a similar program when I’ll begin my own practice in September.  Dr Shiraki could have chosen to not treat the patients paying $1.73 for a high quality treatment. But like I am, he is an idealist who cares about his patients.

To quote him:

“However, the idealistic side of me knew that this approach to health care was the most congruent with everything I believed about healing, my responsibility as a doctor, and what it means to provide the best care to my patients.”

I also went through all his blog posts and the more I read, the more I respected the man and his vision. I do not want to be the French Canadian version of Dr Shiraki, but I have a feeling our paths will be similar through time. Even more so since he is jumping into the political arena as a candidate for the State House in his district 36, Pearl City in the November 2010 election. I truly hope that he will become an elected official because I know that he will be a great leader for the Hawaiians. You can check out his website for the campaign, the Facebook page of his campaign, his Twitter account or his personal Facebook page.

ps: It also helps that like myself, he considers Mohandas Gandhi one of his heroes. *smile*

So dear readers, do you know a chiropractor who had a great influence on you? I’m looking forward to learning about them.

[Via http://drdanymorin.wordpress.com]

The social butterfly

Last summer I had accompanied N to the long line of iphone lovers to grab his 3Gs. Amidst the hot coffee and free doughnuts for apple customers, I was more excited than him for the fact that I no longer had to wait for computer access to update my facebook status. All I needed was a tap and the lives of over hundred friends and another handful of good/close/best friends would be delivered to my palm and my life in theirs. I had (have) succumbed to the facebook genre projecting the I-have-a-good-happening-life syndrome!

Like every facebook-addict I am religious with my updates; filtering the good and funny, leaving the controversial or hurtful bits to never find way to my online presence. To the facebooking world I am the girl with a happy life and sunny days. That is not to say I am a hypocrite or liar; far from it. My cloudy days are left to ruminate and un-facebook. But that is me. That is where I wish to draw the line.

So when should the social butterfly, rein in her wings and end the flight? Who polices enough is enough in the tweeting-facebooking-myspacing-blogging-world?

A couple of weeks ago, I read this news about a tweeting mom, who lost her son in a pool drowning accident. There was a hoard of controversies hovering the time of her tweets and the death of her child, angling negligence, insensitivity and the like. From a conventional stand point she had but grieved and expressed her deepest pain online to 5000 odd followers. Similarly, not long ago, a mother had caused a media frenzy with her tweet about being relieved about her miscarriage.

Now from a just angle, how is it any different from gloating about your love life? Is sad news more personal than a happy one? And if it is so established, should it or shouldn’t it be conveyed online?

These and a gamut of related questions pawn the social-networker; the one throwing his closet open and letting the skeletons haunt the grapevine craving social-mob. You are but manifesting your own Paparazzi, loving and loathing judgments from random strangers comfortably termed followers. And whether that is good or bad, happy or sad is yet again a matter of personal standing!

So the next time you want to unleash your worst fears or unprecedented calls for sympathy and empathy to the online family who like, cheer and follow your best moments, step back and give it a long thought. I am sure you do not want to be chastised by an arbitrary follower for being a miserable human being, when all you want is a virtual shoulder for support.

[Via http://ddurgadas.wordpress.com]

~ ERIC FADDEN, Wedding Photography ~

Spring is coming sooner that you think, and with that comes the ever exciting WEDDING  season!  Beautiful brides, gorgeous gowns, fragrant flowers and the timeless captures of commitment and love…

Have you found a qualified photographer to capture your precious moments?

Well, I have;)

ERIC FADDEN is now scheduling for 2010. Weddings, Senior Portraits, Mommy-to-Be and so much more. Explore the possibilities for your special moments with images that last a lifetime. Work with a photographer who shares your vision of beauty, of love, of hope and of inspiration…a photographer who values your satisfaction above and beyond all else. In the world of ERIC FADDEN PHOTOGRAPHY, YOUR vision is his philosophy and through his lens, your memories become illustrations of your life’s stories, however great or small….

Schedule ANY photo session with ERIC FADDEN PHOTOGRAPHY by January 31st and receive a FREE makeup application to look your very best. What’s that you say? Wedding not until June? Baby due in September? NO PROBLEM! Your event can be for anytime in the 2010 Calendar year! Just schedule it no later than January 31st to qualify for this cost saving, image enhancing offer!

So whether your special day is IN…

 

Or OUT….

 

Let the images of ERIC FADDEN PHOTOGRAPHY show everyone what it’s all about!

Contact ERIC FADDEN at:

WEBSITE

757.333.0307

BECOME A FAN OF ERIC FADDEN ON FACEBOOK!

FOLLOW ERIC FADDEN ON TWITTER!

 

[Via http://kristinemarie.wordpress.com]

10 Things you'll be sick to death of by the end of 2010

Everyone writes the introspective, year-in-review blog post around this time of year. As I am someone, that means I have to as well.

But I can’t easily write a, “Top 10 Things about 2009,” because for the most part, 2009 was rotten. Recession, the mortgage crisis, that Twilight sequel… This very blog was born out of my own layoff, since I no longer had my old company’s blogs to spout off on.

So instead, here is my warning of things you will have had just about enough of by the end of 2010.

(By the way, I specifically did not mention Microsoft here, because we’ve all been sick of them since 1998 or so. So if you want to add Windows 7 or Bing, just know that I am with you. I am with you.)

1) Augmented Reality – This is already a buzz word that’s making the rounds, with marketing managers scrambling to find out what it’s all about and iPhone app developers making “squwee!” noises loudly over this new use of GPS tracking and camera.

It’s a nice idea: Mash up your location with various social networking tools, so you can, say, see where geographically all of your Twitter friends are, or view a street with the names of all the shops listed on it. It is pretty neat stuff – but the deluge of articles and videos and seminars teaching you how to “harness this powerful new tool!” is going to hurt after a while. My suggestion: Just make sure your store is listed on all Google Maps and all the other social tools you’ve heard about, and leave it alone.

2) Facebook – I’m going out on a limb with this one, but I really think people are going to start to sag with Facebook. It’s great for people to get in touch with people they haven’t seen in a while, but haven’t you noticed that a lot of your long lost friends have been lost for a reason? You don’t have any need to talk to them. Everyone else is a short found friend you talk to every day. That’s what phones and coffee shops are for. After that there are some games, but really, no new or useful information is shared on Facebook.

They’re at a tipping point – a bad one, where people could start falling off at any moment. Add to that their ever-increasing need to monetize their user base, and they’re sure to mess it all up for themselves. As soon as someone introduces the, “next big thing,” Facebook will join MySpace out on the curb.

3) AT&T – Let me say, again, that while I don’t own an iPhone, I do think it’s a pretty rad little device. I have a G1, which I’m sad to say always makes me think of Ziggy from the show “Quantum Leap”: An amazing piece of hardware, but one that gives me so many problems I feel like I constantly need to hit it in order for it to work.

While it is a great phone, stories of AT&T’s idiocy abound. From denying Google Voice’s app to asking users to not use so much data, they’re begging users to switch carriers as soon as the AT&T/Apple contract expires. As much trouble as my G1 gives me, I’m thankful T-Moble doesn’t give me as many headaches.

4) Information Overload – We’re in this now, but someone’s GOT to make this an issue in 2010. Between my Facebook Wall, Google Reader, Twitter, the blogs I read, the blogs I should read, SlideShare, YouTube… there’s just way too much stuff to stay on top of. I still seem to hear about the latest thing from actually talking to people who are in the know.

It’s actually what keeps me hopeful that FriendFeed will remain afloat for some time, as it’s the best aggregate of everything that still exists.

5) Social Celebrities – I won’t name names, but there are far too many people famous in this enormous little circle to take seriously anymore. Some of them have great things to say, most of them are just brilliant at doing their own online PR. The result is the brilliant ones aren’t as easy to find, because they can’t be heard above the noise. The plus-side of this is it will be good for the publishing industry – because it seems if you really do know what you’re talking about, a publisher will be willing to commit your wisdom to paper.

In short, you aren’t an expert at anything unless you can prove you’ve done something more than get a lot of views on your YouTube channel.

6) Cable Television – Speaking of risky predictions, here’s a great one. Why the hell would cable television be at risk this year? Because the way we get content has changed so dramatically, we aren’t going to be willing to wait for our shows or movies to appear at their scheduled times. Netflix and RedBox are killing Blockbuster with this, as they’ve already killed Hollywood Video. Add to that Apple’s forthcoming subscription service, and you can see that consumers will soon be getting what they want when they want it.

Cable companies themselves see this writing on the wall, and are – smartly – making a good deal of their content available through their on-demand services. I have a feeling the flood of options coming our way will eventually make all cable television on-demand.

7) Web Cams – I know this is just me, but with handheld video cameras now so cheap, and each with a USB slot, there’s no longer any excuse to shoot your 12seconds posts or Vlogs with a web cam. No one hears what you’re saying, because they’re asleep from the visual of another nerd sitting in front of their computer. Unless you have an Internet strip show, you can take it outside.

Let me also say I’m so thankful to my girlfriend for getting me one of these for my birthday, so I can finally openly chastise other people over this.

Social Media Marketing – I’m already seeing this now, in fact: Agencies abandoning social media as a marketing tool, and going back to traditional venues that have proven their worth before, like SEO and media purchases. This is because social media is supposed to be the voice of the user. You can teach a company how to use the tools, but you can’t out and do it for them quite as easily.

SMM itself isn’t going anywhere, but the idea of hiring someone to do it for you will slowly die. In it’s place, consultants will sell their services training businesses to do it for themselves, and specialty shops will make a fortune building phone apps, games, and anything else that seems like a good idea.

9) Digg – I don’t think I need to do too much of a tap dance on Digg’s head here. While there is still a huge amount of traffic going to this site, it’s usefulness as a “social” news site is over. Let’s see if they improve after Google buys them up.

10) Paying for Wifi – If you have a hotel or coffee shop that has Wifi, for the love of God, give it to your customers for free. This is something so widely used it isn’t something you can use as a profit center anymore. The occasional hip businessman with a laptop has been replaced by everyone, and everyone now has a smart phone and a netbook. If you just give this away, you’re enticing more people to come to you. You’ll get your money back, I promise.

If McDonald’s says it works, you know there has to be something to it. They’re 70 years old, make $3.9 billion a year, and they suck – so they must know something about keeping customers happy.

[Via http://ciaoenrico.com]

Doctor Who; Who likes the New Guy? Anyone?

The time has come, David Tennant has left Doctor Who to pursue the rest of his career in the hope that people don’t associate him with being a Timelord and Matt Smith has taken over the scene, and breaking new ground as he’s doing it.

I would have thought that Matt Smith would have been a welcome change, his hairstyle, personality and questionable clothing style just screams “the Doctor” and as I could remember, the majority of people I asked were excited about this new change last year.

It came as a bit of a shock though, as I took a stroll around Facebook and Twitter to find constant updates saying “The new Doctor sucks”, and “David Tennant was so much better”. There have even been people who put in the time and effort to make a Facebook group telling them (the BBC guys) to “Bring back David Tennant".

Now I’ve just got one question; When can you start? What is wrong with Matt Smith and why should we bring back David Tennant?

And while we’re at it, feel free to contribute to the poll;

Hot guys Images sourced from;

www.lilcocky.wordpress.com/

www.ghostradio.wordpress.com/

[Via http://splurgebook.wordpress.com]

Celebrity PR Pros: Dwight Howard and Ashton Kutcher

Sometimes I’m led to think that those who spend a lot of their time each day on Twitter, Facebook and blogging don’t have lives. However, there are many people who live busy lives and still have time to tweet up and update their statuses and blogs. Even celebrities are into the social networking trends. I view social networking as a form of public relations to help connect with consumers or fans through the internet. So for celebrities to embrace this form of communication is a smart thing to do. Two celebrities that are PR kings in this arena would be Dwight Howard (Center for the NBA Orlando Magic) and Ashton Kutcher (Hollywood actor). Through their efforts, both have them been able to connect with their fans and create a good image for themselves.

By the numbers: Dwight Howard

1,416,428 Twitter followers on @dwighthoward

439,813 Facebook fans

137 blog posts since Feb. 2008

Ashton Kutcher

 4,255,935 Twitter followers on @aplusk

3,218,666 Facebook fans

Both these guys lead pretty busy lives, but still have time to have Twitter and Facebook accounts and post on them regularly. When you go to both of their Twitter accounts, you’ll see that they not only post things, but engage in two-way communication with other fellow tweeters.

They even did some fun contests through their social networking. For example, Dwight was giving out free copies of NBA Live 10 video game and was doing it by posting trivia questions on his Twitter and Facebook and whoever responded first with the right answer, he’d give them a copy. Another example is when Ashton took on CNN to see who could reach 1,000,000 followers on Twitter first, (which he won).

Some people still don’t understand why they should use Twitter, Facebook, or blog. I’ve heard people say “Why blog when I already have a website? It does the same job.” and “I don’t see how Facebook can benefit my business profitably.” These people haven’t grasped the concept that it’s main benefit is to communicate and build relationships with their consumers.

The lesson we can learn from these Dwight and Ashton is that you can never be too busy to post something new or communicate with others online. Even though it may seem a minuscule thing to do, it’s a great way to solidify loyal consumers and fans and have some fun with it along the way. Give it a try if you haven’t yet and remember that it’s not solely for self-promotion and direct profits, but for getting on the same level as your consumers.

PR for persons (socialmedia wise), Dwight Howard is king, so is Ashton Kutcher.

[Via http://utahpublicrelations.wordpress.com]