Embed Twitter Posts directly into any page – Blackbird Pie
I hate to say it, but some of these ‘new developments’ that our kind friends at Twitter are bringing out lately are about as exciting as Mash re-runs.
For example, am I the only one that isn’t wetting myself with excitement now that I can embed an actual Tweet into a live web page? For example….
Maintenance still in progress, we’ll be back shortly.
HootSuite
HootSuite
Wow, the wonders of technology huh. At this rate, next month Twitter will be sending men to Mars.
(If you really are excited about it, or just curious, try out this aptly(?) named piece of coding genious called Blackbird Pie for yourself.) And if you need help using the freakin thing, here’s a handy little Blackbird Pie how to guide.
Social Media isn’t always the answer
Digital evangelists take note…you have probably have heard this a thousand times before, but why not make it a thousand and one. Social media is not the solution to your marketing needs, it is merely a tool which may assist in reaching your target audience.
Never forget the power of simplicity dudes.
Aussie Rapper Records Hip Hop Tracks from Hospital Quarantine Ward
Now’s here’s a video with viral appeal…..an unfortunate Australian bloke who picked up a nasty strain of tuberculosis from a trip through South America has become the world’s first recording artist to write, record and release a hip-hop song from a hospital quarantine ward.
After being stuck in quarantine for nearly two months, Aussie battler Christiaan Van Vuuren decided to make good use of his ‘fully sick’ status and record a few entertaining rap videos, like the one below which has already reached 300,000 views on YouTube.
Just imagine how much trouble (or entertainment) guys like this would have caused in hospitals before Apple Macs and wireless internet were invented. Nurses these days have it way too easy!
Digg turns 5
It only feels like yesterday when I first started seeing those strange “Digg this” icons at the bottom of a few ‘cutting edge’ blogs and news sites. To be honest, I first thought the word digg was a typo, until curiosity got the better of me and I clicked on one of the little suckers.
Digg.com has since become one of the net’s greatest success story, with some sickening amounts of traffic and revenue being generated from within the Digg community. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Digg, it’s essentially a real-time portal that lists the hottest topics on the internet at any given time. Digg users simply “digg” any URL that they think is digg-worthy, and the more diggs it receives, the more prominent it’s position on the Digg.com homepage will be. In addition, Digg allows people with niche interests to filter through the Digg results and find specific topics matching their interests.
Digg has just released this great video, which not only celebrates 5 years of Digg, but also sheds a bit more insight into the history of the company and the successes they have had to date. Well worth watching, I say!
The Facebook Parent Debate – Father & son battle it out
It has been the topic of quite a few sessions at the pub with my mates lately….do you accept your parent’s ‘Friend Request’ on Facebook if they happen to pop up one day, unannounced, in your inbox?
I have heard many valid arguments for and against accepting your annoyingly-internet-savvy maternal or paternal figures as Facebook ‘Friends’.
And by all means, there is no right or wrong answer, as it is a decision left up to the individual based on their own circumstances and preferences. In fact, many people have specific criteria for Facebook friend acquisition. For example:
- - Over time it has become obvious to me, that some people choose to accept friends left, right and centre, to increase their friend stats in a meagre effort to portray their social standing (ironic, since one has have to sit at a computer alone for extended periods of time in order to achieve this).
- - Others accept friend requests for business or personal gain, in order to spread messages of relevance (pffft….losers!)
- - And then there’s those, (gulp), who connect with their ‘friends’ in order to do a little, ah, friendly Facebook stalking. You know the kind I mean – the, “I wonder how Sam from my year 11 maths class looks, I mean is going, these days?…..(half an hour later and 14 boring albums of photos later)….Whooah, looks like she never shook that habit of ordering two meat pies for lunch. Haha…..unlucky Sammy! “. After all, that’s why Facebook was invented, right? RIGHT? (Why do I hear only murmurs of disdain?)
Of course, aside from an individual’s Facebook Friend acquisition strategy , there are certainly also other factors that influence one’s decision, such as…
- - emotional considerations
- - secrecy
- - guilt
- - geographical location
- - public perception (i.e. “eeek….what will my friends think”)
Personally, I believe a large factor in a child’s decision (and I use the word ‘child’ in the sense of ‘offspring’, of any age) on whether to grant their parents ‘access’ to their Facebook world, is based on their long withstanding relationship with their parents. Kids who don’t encourage their parents into their ‘real world’ lives, are probably even less likely to accept their parents into their online lives.
Maybe I am just reading into it all too much, and we should all just bite the bullet and click the “Accept Friend” button. But then….what we have to talk about at the pub?
So it’s over to you Dad….what do you reckon about 2009 most talked about online predicament? From your point of view, is the decision to to accept a parent as a ‘Facebook Friend’ a moral dilemma, or merely juvenile concern?
(Stay tuned for the first round of the debate, or you can even subscribe to my RSS feed – as a response from my very own fatherly Facebook Friend will follow shortly…..)
Augmented Reality Baseball Cards
Augmented reality, also known by its product name as Total Immersion, has rocked the digital world during the past 12 months. Augmented reality technology, involves combining the real world with digitally created images, animations or text. Often this involves the incorporation of a video-cam, either through a PC’s web-cam or the camera on a hand-held device such as an iPhone. It’s futuristic, interactive, fun….and yet to be utilized to its full potential.
The question over the last 12 months and beyond has been, how this slightly gimmicky Augmented Reality technology can be harnessed for mass consumption?
Well, it seems that the world is making progress on the application of Total Immersion technology. I was delighted to recently find out that Topps, a well known producer of American sports collector cards which I haven’t come across in nearly 15 years, has found a way of using augmented reality to revive. Sure, gone are the days when die-hard sports fans memorize their favorite players stats from the back of a sport-card (now, we simply Google for real time player statistics), but this adds some new and unforeseen appeal to the humble sports card.
Learn something every day
My father gave me some great advice many moons ago. He said “son, never stop learning“.
As the years move on, I have slowly began to realize how important these few words are. To learn, is to keep your mind active, to keep your outlook on life fresh, and to prevent becoming a stale and dry like an old piece of pita bread left in the cupboard for a week (if you’ve ever seen my pantry you’ll understand the relevance of that comment).
Sometimes you get caught up in routines and occupations that are so process-driven or time intensive that opportunities to learn new things are placed out of arm’s reach. After all, you need at least a few minutes spare each day to learn something new, right?
Wrong! Learn something every day allows you to quickly absorb an interesting and valuable fact every day of the year, through it’s visual and entertaining layout, pictured below. And if you are absolutely smitten with any of the facts you learn, you can even buy a tshirt adorned with your newly learned fact!
So now you can follow the advice of a wise man, and learn something every day without interrupting your day job. Live long and prosper my friends!
Managing unrealistic client requests
Working in a digital agency provides constant challenges, particularly when dealing with client expectations. On occasion, one has to exercise extreme caution and develop a profound ability to bite their tongue , in order to maintain relationships while also trying to convey that a request may be unreasonable.
However, sometimes there is no option but to be blunt when responding to unreasonable client requests. Being a creative industry, being blunt can be also be a little bit of fun, as this hilarious example of an unreasonable client’s email interaction with a potential service provider illustrates.
Here’s a little snippet as a teaser:
You can read the rest of this email chain here (a word of warning, some of the language is as colorful as the slices of the pie charts).
