1. Read Instructions


2. Retain Instructions


3. Heed Instructions


4. Follow Instructions

Checking out their website I found it really cool that they have a 3 minute countdown after which the website "shuts down" and they encourage you to put away the computer and go outside and have some face time. How truly radical! It seems a sad sort of commentary on the state of things as we find people more and more relating to each other across the digital networks rather than face to face... in an effort to bring the world closer, are we really pushing people apart? Face time is indeed important, often I find myself now choosing to walk down the hall to confer with a colleague rather than sending an email or picking up the phone. A little more effort yes but a lot more rewarding. Anyway, an interesting ad campaign - take 3 minutes, check it out, then go outside and meet a friend.

So it happens that I have this blog, a facebook account and accounts on Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku. A lot of services to post information to. A while ago, I had a posted discussing whether to use pownce, twitter or jaiku for a microblogging platform. While all have their merits, I found that Twitter seems to be the one I've been using more often than not and the trouble of trying to keep up with three services that kind of all do the same thing was more than I wanted to deal with. So I went dark (so to speak) on both pownce and jaiku - on both of which I have different sets of "friends". And then there was my blog and my facebook. I found that my blog posts suffered as I started hanging out more often on Facebook and posting more and more technical updates there. Lately I felt I needed some way to bring all these bits of my electronic self together and try to link them all up.

Through sheer serendipity I happened across Twhirl. Twhirl is a Twitter client which, while posting to Twitter, will also cross post to your Pownce and Jaiku accounts. Are you kidding me? It's just what I was looking for. Fantastic!! So that takes care of the twitter stuff. Now how to integrate my Facebook and blog?

I had already set up my blog to pull my facebook postings into the content, but I wanted it to go the other way as well and so set up facebook to pull my blog posts in as posted facebook notes. (Just pull your blog in as a notes feed). That was easy. Nice. Now I feel motivated to write longer posts on my blog once again and I really like the fact that it also gets posted to my facebook.

There are a few bits of me still scattered around out there but the important stuff is now better linked and I can determine what to do with the other stuff later, for now I'm writing more and posting less but posting to more places - works for me :)

In windows (before you install FF3):
My Computer>Local Disk>Program Files>Mozilla Firefox <--- change this to Mozilla Firefox 2.0

On a mac, you can simply download the new FF3 application to your desktop, change the name to Firefox 3.0 and then copy it into your Applications folder.

Ok, what are you waiting for? Go and get Firefox 3.0:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

And, while you're at it - try these handy add-ons:
Adblock plus - don't ever have to see ads again!
ColorZilla - advanced eyedropper tool
Del.icio.us - access and organize your bookmarks
Foxmarks - sync your FF bookmarks across many computers!
MeasureIt - on screen ruler to get pixel width & height of any element on a webpage
PDF Download - choose what you want to do with a PDF file
Web Designer's Toolbar - lots of handy tools in one easy place.

So, here is how to accomplish the grand sync (in a really roundabout way!)
Step 1: Set up a Google Calendar (you don't have to share it with the world!)
Step 2: Download CompanionLink Software's CompanionLink for Google (not free though - you will need to register it for $29.95 US to keep using it past the trial period)
Step 3: In iCal, add a subscription to your Google calendar
Step 4: Configure CompanionLink for Google to sync your Google calendar with your Groupwise
Step 5: Sync up - once the sync is complete everything should now be on your iCal
Step 6: You can now sync your iPod touch which will sync your iCal data as well.

I had originally installed CompanionLink for Google on an XP Desktop but recently switched it to a Parallels Vista install on my MBP

Bonus: if you're on a MacBook / MacBook Pro, install Windows either via Bootcamp, Parellels or VMWare Fusion and install CompanionLink for Google there. I personally prefer the Windows client for Groupwise over the Mac client so I installed that on my Parallels Vista install as well.

What a lot of bother just to get everything onto my iCal so I can (a) have it all on one calendar and (b) sync it with my iPod.

In early December I was lucky enough to attend the Web Builder 2.0 conference in Las Vegas and while there I decided to visit the Apple store and have them take a look at the battery on my new (few months old) MacBook Pro. Shortly after receiving it I had noted that the battery was no longer flush with the underside of the case and in fact seemed to be ever so slightly bulging a bit. Upon removing the batter I found that I could easily separate the casing by hooking an edge with my fingernail and pulling gently up - this did not seem like a good thing to me. Plus, the raised edge underneath was annoying. So in I went and got an appointment with the Genius Bar techhies. The wait wasn't overly excessive (20 minutes) even though the store was bustling. In fact, they bumped me into a no-show slot within 5 minutes. Cool.

They took a look at it and felt that it was not a safety issue, rather more a cosmetic issue but were willing to swap it out for a replacement if I liked. Uh, yeah! Absolutely. And swap it out they did. One concern of mine was the charge status as I would be flying out of Vegas later that evening to which they responded by hauling a stool over to the end of the bar and letting me sit there and work for as long as I liked while the battery charged.

Well that was awesome. So work I did while while other customers came and had their issues taken care of. I was so impressed by the guys manning the bar and their professionalism in dealing with the customers. One poor woman came in with her "broken" brand-new iphone - she could talk through it but couldn't hear anyone from the other end. The techie took a quick look and, without making her feel like a total dunce, peeled off the anti-scratch film it ships with which was covering the ear piece hole. Very impressive.

I've read online both pro and con articles of the people staffing the Genius Bar, and well, my experience was definitely pro. In fact, all the staff I dealt with were awesome there - it's heartening to see that the art of customer service is not dead.

As I'll be out of the office for a week or so I had stumbled about on the website of our local daily newspaper looking for the form they used to have (which has now disappeared) and was a little irritated at having to actually "phone" them to request a vacation delivery stoppage. Once connected to reception the automated system informed me of a 5 minute wait for a customer service rep (yikes), or, "she" could help me with the following things - vacation hold being one of them. What the heck I figured, I'll give Sally the Voice a go.

The cool thing was that it was all voice recognition stuff, no punching in numbers at all. Simply speaking "vacation hold" after the list of items selected that option, then she requested my phone number to be spoken to her, and then my house number. After that she wanted to know the date of stoppage and the date to resume. What cracked me up were the responses from her, they varied from "got it" to "thank you" to "great, thanks". And even funnier was the fake typing noise when she responded with "just a sec while I check the system for your account (insert fake typing noise here)" and "entering your request into the system now (more fake typing noise)". Too funny.

Very smooth and easy to use and the whole process left me with a "huh - now why can't all customer service calls be that easy and cool". Coolness aside though - let's just hope it works.

So once satisfied that I had my safety net in place, away I leapt and began the install. The entire installation process took just under 2 hours and went very smoothly. Wireless connectivity was a bit of an issue, but I had the solution in hand before actually beginning the install and was able to correct the issue right after. My wireless signal is now stronger than it was with Tiger, go figure. And the system itself seems much quicker as well. No complaints here in that regard.

Next up, but which I'll leave to another day, is to install Vista and XP under Parallels - good times.

Resources:

• Twitter for iPhone/iPod Touch


• Remember the Milk for iPhone/iPod Touch (must have a pro Remember the Milk account)


• Mail app for iPod Touch (Mailcoaster)


• Weather app for iPhone/iPod Touch

While Jaiku is way cool, there is no critical mass of "friends" using it, therefore it gets sorely neglected.

Pownce has the critical mass of friends as members, but they seem to prefer twitter as well, so my Pownce stream is a very eclectic mix of unknowns. Also, Powncers seem to like to fileshare more but frankly, I just haven't been able to get into powncing. As well, I've heard the powncers complain that twitterers (twitter users) are too "unfriendly" but I'm not sure that's the case at all. Maybe we're just a little more self-absorbed ;) Don't get me wrong though - I'm certainly not slamming pownce at all, but rather my preference is with twitter at this time where the critical mass of "friends" or others I want to follow are happily tweeting away. I think what it basically comes down to is that twitter does one thing and does it well. It's simple and it's easy.

I confess I like the continuous stream-of-consciousness feed of tweets from those that I follow and yes, there are random gems in there which make me literally laugh out loud, and yes, I have been pointed to interesting articles and apps on occasion. I don't find it pointless at all, it's rather more like the background chatter of a large office setting - but it's an office that spans the globe. It's very cool to watch as people are tweeting about heading to bed, or to lunch, or home after work, within minutes of each other, while we in North America are just starting to wake up and come online. Soon you find yourself falling into the rhythm of worklife routines around the world. It really brings the global community into perspective. I beg to differ with those who complain that twitter is pointless,asinine. It's also very interesting to follow the tweets of conference goers who are summarizing the panels they are attending - it's like virtually being there and so much useful information is sent around!

As well, I've linked twitter with my Remember the Milk account and can easily use it to update my task lists / reminders. Very handy! By linking the two, I can text a direct twitter message to my rtm "friend" which then gets posted to my rtm account. Nice. Easy. Useful.

It's a great way to keep in touch, keep in the loop, and yes, even increase productivity. But don't take my word for it - try it for yourself and make up your own mind.

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Learn more about twitter here: Big Juicy Twitter Guide

BBC: Scores ill in Peru "Meteor Crash"

Alley Oop: Alley Oop story arc at August 19, 2007

How bizarre.