Joe Blogs: June 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Friendfeed Themes For Everyone

Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

We all love themes, some of the most innovative and eventful nights I have shared with friends have all pivoted around a theme. Don't worry this isn't going to be a sordid story, details of a conquest or where I unveil something from my past to my followers. Instead the Friendfeed team have unveiled six new designs to choose from which have long been a requested feature.

Designing for a broad user base usually means finding the best middle ground you can, while still retaining the site's core personality. Through rigorous internal testing ("Looks good? Looks good!"), we've come up with several designs that let you add a little more individuality to FriendFeed's UI, making your experience better without distracting from the task at hand.

According to the announcement this is just the beginning as there are more themes in the pipeline and the team will be releasing them a few at a time. Once chosen the themes dictate the display of the entire site, basically when people view our profile it will be visible as the theme they have selected. They have a roadmap for changing this but further details were not made available today! Theme creation was mentioned although to be flexible and compatible with future enhancements these will be more than just uploading pictures and changing colours. To discuss this and keep up with the latest theme developments then this is the place for you. Now back to those sordid tales I mentioned earlier...

Monday, June 29, 2009

Viva La Blogger or Lifestreaming and All His Friends

Image by Salim Virji via Flickr

evo·lu·tion: It's time to denounce blogging, the shift in media to another format but haven't we been here before? It's a natural process to want to progress, Steve Rubel announced last week that he was Moving from Blogging to Lifestreaming and the ~~curtain~~ spotlight falls again on the blogosphere.

Although at times I feel I'm spread too thinly across the multitude of services I participate there is no chance I will abandon ship. Micromedia and lifestreaming are popular outlets for content but as Louis Gray writes: Blogging Is Still The Foundation and I'm sure it will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Micromedia compliments blogging especially through lifestreaming services as they provide a real-time form of content distribution. If anything I would say that the blogosphere is well positioned, sharing rich content generates a reaction and increases the likelihood of conversation around the stream. It's not that blogs require a reboot but rather they need to realign with the real-time vision that is consuming the Internet.

Blogs are out of beta but bloggers, as pioneers, should always in beta seeking to grow and advance our beloved format, rather than be complacent. I am surprised that more of us aren't asking what's next for the almighty blog ~ Steve Rubel

I'm intrigued by the evolution and although I have introduced elements of lifestreaming to my central hub, through widgets and integration with other services, blogging remains my primary focus. Many thought provokers and industry leaders are embracing different mediums like micromedia and lifestreaming to spread their reach. Is this path their definition of beta? Also what's the difference between 'insights' and blogging?

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Michael Jackson Dominates The UK Charts

Image by joedawson via Flickr

The news of Michael Jackson's death has dominated the news these last few days. It's a fitting tribute to the King of Pop that due to the unprecedented reaction to his passing that his music has climbed the singles and albums charts.

His hits are the soundtrack to many of our lives, an entire generation have been inspired by his genius so understandably people are reaching out to show their appreciation by purchasing the music of Michael Jackson.

I followed the top ten at my parents briefly via Radio 1 but it's the download chart that caught my attention the most as on iTunes his albums hold nearly every position in the top ten. Currently Number Ones holds the number one position and in the singles chart Man in the Mirror is the highest entry which also entered at the top of the charts.

(Official Singles Charts) A staggering 43 out of the top 200 singles feature Michael Jackson. The highest Jackson entry is 'Man In The Mirror' at number 11. There are a total of five Jackson singles in the Top 30 and 20 in the Top 75. ~ NME

Saturday, June 27, 2009

The 3rd Birthday Celebration

Image by joedawson via Flickr

This last fortnight has been eventful, several birthdays and Father's Day have seen a lot of activity. Although our youngest celebrated her birthday Monday we decided to bring friends and family together this weekend due to other commitments.

The day started with our television which we planned to use as the music source decided to leave us for a better place. Not sure what actually went wrong but this morning it just refused to turn on, even with changing the fuse and power supply. We were able to replace it with the television set from the bedroom so only a minor disruption.

Other than that the day was a success, I personally felt that the highlight was playing 'Pass the parcel, with Dizzee Rascal' at a children's birthday. The bouncy castle was great value and everybody got involved at least once. We also had a pinata but it was so tough to break that eventually it took a rolling pin to unleash what was inside!

The weather forecast had painted a disappointing picture for the day with heavy rain showers predicted. Instead of organising a barbeque we opted to prepare a buffet but the weather held out and we had a really enjoyable afternoon. There was a brief shower for five minutes in the evening but by then the majority of people had made their way home with their children. Tomorrow we have another birthday celebration to attend and then we have some fresh air for a few weeks before the next birthdays are upon us again [I think anyway :)]

Image by joedawson via Flickr

Friday, June 26, 2009

Off The Wall

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The reaction to Michael Jackson's death has been incredible, TMZ.com broke the story about Jackson being sent to hospital, then The LA Times announced that Michael Jackson was in a coma and then the news that the pop star had passed began filtering through.

The traffic on the Internet caused widespread problems; TMZ.com and The LA Times sites couldn't handle the volume and ABC, AOL, CNN Money and CBS all experienced problems. This is not supposed to happen. Also affected were social networks with Twitter and Friendfeed experiencing issues. Trending topics were also dominated by discussion on this story, Google trends virtually every one of the keywords can be tied to the Michael Jackson story.

Today as expected the world is mourning the loss of a talented artist, performer and father, many people though are in total shock and disbelief. It's one of those moments where you find yourself watching the television constantly, following the latest stories online and listening to the radio. Regularly we're comparing old and new media and which provides the most value, I have found better statistics and in depth information online but for opinion and views old media has been amazing. Sky News have covered the story intensely and it has been emotional watching as the events have unfolded and as they have recaptured moments from his life.

I must have consumed several hours of Michael Jackson tracks today, I arrived in the office to be greeted by a colleague playing a collection on iTunes. This was followed by the radio which featured the Jacksons music heavily as a tribute and this evening I have been watching television and they're celebrating the career of the star. I'm sure this will be the trend for a while as Michael Jackson touched the lives of an entire generation and his legacy will live on..

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Pop Legend Michael Jackson Dies Aged 50

Image via Wikipedia

Michael Jackson was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital this afternoon, reports weren't immediately clear but it's now been confirmed, sadly that after suffering a cardiac arrest the singer was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital. The artist has passed away at the age of 50, one of the biggest pop icons of all time and whatever the perception of his personal life the world has lost a talented star!

Gossip website TMZ.COM originally broke the story but many people I feel refused to believe and wanted confirmation from a credible source. When the LA Times began claiming that Michael Jackson was in a coma, there was a lot of confusion but then came the confirmation as the LA Times updated to report that the singer had died.

Michael Jackson had been due to play 50 sell-out shows at London's O2 Arena starting in July. We had purchased tickets to attend what the artist announced earlier in the year would be his last UK shows. Sadly they will no longer take place, I'm shocked by this development as are many of the people I interact with online. When this story first broke Twitter couldn't handle the surge of updates flooding through the service. Friendfeed also become inundated with tributes and messages and my entire Facebook newsfeed consists solely of messages about the singer. Rest in peace Michael Jackson, you touched many people, you were the last of the classic popstars and your music will live on forever.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Chasing Status..

Image via Wikipedia

What's on your mind? Facebook are again introducing changes to the way we share our updates with friends. Starting today Facebook are launching a beta version of an improved Publisher. Currently only available to users that have made their Facebook profile and status privacy to "Everyone." The users with access to the beta can control which people can access that specific piece of content that they have shared through the Publisher.

The main place to add content such as photos, videos, and status updates on your home page and profile. The new Publisher has been streamlined a bit, and its most significant improvement is the new Publisher Privacy Control that gives you the opportunity to answer the question, "Who do you want to tell?" as easily as you answer the question, "What's on your mind?" ~ Olaoluwa 'Ola' Okelola [Facebook Blog]

This appears to further increase the comparisons with Twitter/Friendfeed, introducing features slowly to encourage users to be more open. Making their published content available publicly much like Twitter/Friendfeed. I'm impressed in the way the social network has shifted the balance, especially when you consider the userbase it has to convince that this is the way forward. Personally I rate the Facebook experience, the privacy controls and closed network are what I want from the social network.

The options are as follows:

Everyone: Anyone, on or off, of Facebook can see it.
Friends and Networks: People you have confirmed as friends and people in any school or work networks that you’ve joined can see it.
Friends of Friends: Anyone who is friends with a friend of yours can see it.
Friends: Only people you have confirmed as friends can see it.
Custom: Choose any friend or Friend List to include or exclude from seeing that piece of content.

Another feature that's sure to make an appearance on Facebook eventually is the latest enhancement to the Friendfeed services upload functionality. Now the service allows for us to easily attach any file, such as a PDF or a spreadsheet, to our FriendFeed post -

To share files on friendfeed.com, simply click the "Files" link underneath the post box and select which files you want to include. You can also share files by including them as attachments on emails sent to share@friendfeed.com. (Learn more about posting via email.) ~ Dan Hsiao [Friendfeed Blog]

This latest development is relevant to my needs as earlier this week I asked the question whether there was anywhere I could host Video Memos/Podcasts. With Friendfeed introducing this feature I'm certainly going to experiment to see what response I receive. Interested in your views on both stories, especially whether you are encouraged by Facebook pursuing openness?!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Google Shows Us The Moves With GMail Ninjas

Image via Wikipedia

Google want to assist in how we approach email, introducing GMail: Tips which aims to increase our productivity, and help manage our email more efficiently. To define the experience levels Google have opted to portray the tips as different graded Ninja belts.

Why pirates were overlooked wasn't specified but this is a clear statement of intent for the ninjas!!

The different graded ninjas consist of the following; “White belt,” “Green belt,” “Black belt,” and “Gmail master,” which are based on the relevant skill level. There are some useful tips available, I have several enabled through Google Labs but I don't really utilise the more experienced options. I have really started promoting GMail to my friend and work colleagues and hopefully this will tempt them to embrace what's available. Here's the full list which I have obtained from the TechCrunch article -

White Belt

1. Use stars to indicate a note is special.
2. Reply by chat.
3. Organize your email with labels.
4. Clean up your inbox using “Move to” — it works just like folders.
5. Search your mail instead of sorting.
6. Archive messages to tidy up your inbox without deleting anything.
7. Import your email and contacts from your old address.
8. Spice up your inbox with a theme.
9. Join forces to rid the world of spam.

Green Belt

1. Talk face-to-face with video chat.
2. Use Tasks as a handy to-do list.
3. Use filters to control the flow of incoming mail.
4. Highlight important emails using filters and colored labels.
5. Send email from your phone.
6. Preview attachments without downloading them.
7. Avoid email gaffes with Undo Send.
8. Tell your friends what you’re up to with a status message.
9. Never forget an attachment again.
10. Tell everyone when you’ll be back with vacation responder.
11. Nothing says “I’m excited” like a bouncing happy face emoticon.

Black Belt

1. Get through your mail faster with keyboard shortcuts.
2. Use search operators to find the exact message you’re looking for.
3. Filter your email with personalized email addresses.
4. See which messages were sent right to you.
5. Make Gmail go where the Internet doesn’t.
6. Quickly add multiple attachments to an email.
7. Add “(EOM)” to the subject of one-liner messages.
8. Set up canned responses instead of typing the same reply over and over again.
9. Click less and watch more using YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, and Yelp previews.
10. Use quick links to get anywhere in Gmail with one click.
11. Send and archive in one step.

Gmail Master

1. Bring Google Calendar and Docs to Gmail.
2. Send SMS text messages right from Gmail.
3. Forget to sign out of a public computer? Sign out remotely.
4. Personalize your RSS feeds in web clips.
5. Access your mail via https.
6. Search for superstars by name.
7. Use Gmail on your own domain.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Three Times For Good Measure..

Image by joedawson via Flickr

Happy birthday to our youngest today, she's growing up fast and was full of excitement this morning. Still half asleep the photos taken captured the moment she opened her presents half asleep but eyes wide and smiling!

Yesterday she went on an adventure Safari with her biological father and his family and today she was again on another adventure this time to the Farm. It was no surprise this evening when she crashed out as she has had a busy few days but plenty of birthday cake and lots to remember.

Unfortunately I was at work today so wasn't able to participate in the frolics at the farm but we got to enjoy a meal at Nando's this evening which was really nice. We also have a party planned at the weekend which friends and family will be attending. That's three birthday celebrations if I'm correct, one celebration for every year. If that's set to be a trend for every year eventually the celebrations will last several weeks! Good times ahead, happy birthday again!!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Bring Me Sunshine..

Cover of My Dad

Yesterday we celebrated my brothers birthday and it was an enjoyable evening. The party went on until the early hours, it took a while before it all got started, I admit at one point I was concerned about numbers but my brothers friends eventually arrived. There was plenty of drinking and thankfully no real drama..

No matter what hour I retire my body clock still makes sure I'm awake before 8am. I think parenting makes certain of that as children embed into your daily routine that need to wake and tend to their every need!

Today though, is Fathers Day so it's all about me, although I didn't get to see the three children until late in the afternoon but it was well worth the wait. Overall we enjoyed a great weekend, the Voice Memos on the iPhone raised a few laughs as well as I attempted to podcast the activities unfolding throughout the day. I need a decent site to upload these as some of the comments are priceless and really laugh out loud material! Any suggestions, answers on a postcard people :)

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants

Image via Wikipedia

My youngest sibling, my brother, has reached the milestone he has craved for some time today! He celebrates his 18th birthday people so lock up your daughters! Momentum for this day has been building for a significant amount of time and to say that he has been excited this week would be an understatement. Being the youngest has many pros and cons, I only have to walk into his bedroom and be greeted by the high definition plasma television, video games systems, Sky HD and even a fridge to realise that being at the other end of the spectrum wasn't as rewarding.

Being the youngest though means that he's had to wait in the wings while we've been there, worn out the t-shirts and learnt how to walk and swagger. He's had to wait for his moment and now the stabilizers are being removed he will definitely spread his wings. This evening we're celebrating his birthday with a gathering at my parents. You're all invited; alcohol, drinking games, blow-up dolls, 63% abv rum, music and maybe MTV (maybe?! awaiting the call). I'm sure it will be a night to remember and I hope that it's everything that he has dreamed about and more because this, as we know, is where it all gets interesting!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Trends: Require More Than Just Censoring And Duct Tape

Image by .mw via Flickr

The ability to find out what's hot online through the trending topics on Twitter is a great feature. As Twitter has pushed through into the mainstream though the top trending topics has lost a lot of it's value and credibility. This is because users have learnt how to game the system and also so have the spammers!

Inappropriate terms have featured may times before as trending topics but within minutes of the latest terms (discussed here on ReadWriteWeb) peaked they were removed. Censorship doesn't disguise the fact that the trending topics feature is broken but when will it receive an overhaul?

Many Twitter users organise their activity through desktop clients and applications, this has proved popular and is core to the ecosystem of the service. Possibly the developers could open the API to allow for more innovation around the trending topics. Arrange grouping the topics into popular categories: Technology, Politics, News, Sport, Offbeat etc. I would like to see this introduced, especially considering my usage of clients and applications. Can you think of any alternatives?

Thursday, June 18, 2009

It's All Clear Now..

Image by lrargerich via Flickr

Plenty of information circulating about statistics, analytics, comment plugins and followers filtering through my feed reader at the moment. At times it's difficult to participate and maintain a presence across the multiple services and startups that I actively contribute because there is so much happening. I do spend a significant amount of time online but compared to the people that I interact with I barely scratch the surface.

It's hard to predict what's on the horizon but these are definitely exciting times. Being connected provides constant access to the stories and developments that I follow, the ability to contribute to discussion with friends and networked associates and a resource to assist in the digital age. I find transparency important although I acknowledge that I need to be responsible especially where my children are concerned.

Over the last year I have introduced tighter measures to protect them online but I'm a proud parent so they still get exposure. Yesterday I took the day off work to attend my son's annual school trip but frustratingly I was unable to participate as many parents also expressed interest. At least I got to collect them from school though which was great as it's not often that I'm able to do so due to the hours I work. Also took my daughter to the opticians for a routine check and although she has been wearing glasses the optician informed that she doesn't require them any longer as her sight is fine. I think secretly though she actually enjoys wearing them!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Check For Update... iPhone 3.0 Impressions

Image by Riggzy via Flickr

This evening the long awaited iPhone 3.0 OS was finally made available. You can click on the "Check for Update" button within iTunes right now to get your iPhone updated. Although the download time specifies an estimated time until completion, I found that it does take longer to complete the process.

First impressions are good, there doesn't appear to be any major app casualties although TweetDeck appears to be experiencing issues and Tweetie still awaits an update to address the #Twitpocalypse issue. The ability to send an MMS was the first feature I tested, I have switched to emailing images and will likely continue to do so but this is a welcome addition.

The most requested feature for as long as I can remember is cut/copy/paste, this works well and takes time to adjust but it does the trick. Voice Memos I can see providing entertainment as they can be shared as MMS/email and I have already sent a few to friends and family. The ability to shake the iPhone to undo a message or to switch to another track within the iPod is sure to attract some confused looks from people in the street. This feature is already available in several applications to refresh the activity on the screen and it works well.

Other features/functionality available that I haven't sampled are reviewed on many of the websites/blogs I follow. I'm going to recommend Greg Kumparaks post on Mobile Crunch as he provides a decent summary. I'm more than impressed with the new operating system, what are your views? Do you feel that there are any areas that could be improved?

TweetDeck: There's An App For That And Sync Takes Us Into The Clouds!

Image by joedawson via Flickr

TweetDeck the personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now just got better. The desktop client for connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more has come to the iPhone. TweetDeck was originally created to address the avalanche of information sites are serving consumers rather than static web pages. Developer Iain Dodsworth notes on the Posterous blog that -

Today’s browsers aren’t set up to help us filter and digest this new format. So I started TweetDeck with a focus on Twitter but a bigger vision, to become a new browser for the real-time Web

Iain Dodsworth's objective was to change the way people view streamed, real time data from the Web. In the space of a year with the support of the TweetDeck community the team have established themselves as the Twitter client of choice for many users, built a team in London that constantly improve the product and today announce the release of TweetDeck for the iPhone and a new version of TweetDeck for the desktop.

Image by joedawson via Flickr

To start I downloaded TweetDeck for the iPhone, the Welcome screen introduces TweetDeck as the mobile browser for staying in touch with what's happening now on Twitter. The wizard informs me that there are just a few steps before I can get started with TweetDeck. Pressing 'Get Started' prompts me to enter my Twitter account details, you can add more Twitter accounts later the message informs.

After verifying account details with Twitter another screen appears asking whether I want to Register with TweetDeck. Basically what this enables is the ability to sign up for a TweetDeck account to synchronise and backup your TweetDeck favourites, including columns, groups and saved searches between your desktop and iPhone so it's always up to date. This is very impressive and with more of my friends signing up to Twitter, having the ability to create groups is a requirement that makes this an essential download!

The full details on what's available from the iPhone application -

Image via CrunchBase

Tweet directly from your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Manage multiple Twitter accounts.
View notifications for new tweets received.
Use columns to create your personal dashboard.
Simply sync to set-up
Continuously updates between your desktop and iPhone.
Create Groups to easily follow all your friends.
Follow topics in real-time with saved searches.
Reply to tweets and send direct messages.
Easily re-tweet messages.
Share photos with Twitpic and YFrog.
Shorten links with your favourite URL shortener.
Follow and un-follow people.
Shake your iPhone to refresh columns.

The new desktop client also introduces automatic synchronisation for TweetDeck between your desktop and iPhone. Details from the Posterous blog state that this process makes it really simple to import your columns and groups -

Sync works in the background so whenever you change a group or add a new search column it’s updated and available on all your computers and your iPhone. This also means that everything can be backed up in case your computer ever crashes.

Also available is multiple Twitter account support, tweet from any account or even cross-post tweets to numerous Twitter accounts at the same time. The ten column limit has been removed so now we can have unlimited columns which is an aspect I will experiment with extensively to provide the richest experience. Local trends is another great addition providing trends on any columns, for example I can see what's a hot topic with my friends and work colleagues :)

Here's a list of the rest of the features available in the new desktop client -

Image by akakumo via Flickr

Conversation window - View an entire dialogue all at once.
Video playback - Watch Qik or 12seconds video clips from the comfort of TweetDeck.
New ‘Block & Report Spam’ button - Just one click will delete the message from view, block the user and report them to Twitter.
TweetDeck Recommends column - Find new and interesting people to follow whether you’re a Twitter newbie or a veteran of the Twitterverse.
‘Reply All’ - Tweet everyone mentioned in a tweet in just a couple of clicks.
YFrog - Share and preview YFrog photos inside TweetDeck.
Smart filter – Start typing a username to find a person and add them to a group quickly and easily.
RE (In reference to) tweets – Easily comment on a discussion.

Overall I am impressed with the new features available, TweetDeck for iPhone is definitely impressive and the ability to synchronise through the cloud is exactly how it should be with ease of usage. Does TweetDeck for iPhone have the potential to become the most used iPhone application? Most definitely but Tweetie and Seesmic are also in contention, I'm excited as with the companies innovating to provide the best experience as the consumer we benefit the most.

What are your views on the latest developments?

Monday, June 15, 2009

Iran Demonstrations

Image by .faramarz via Flickr

The Internet and specifically social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed have proved to be a valuable outlet for the people of Iran. Even though Iranians have shutdown websites and closed newspapers, people are turning to Twitter to reach out to the rest of the world. Twitter has even rescheduled planned maintenance, which was a good decision, due to the events and volatile situation.

Although Twitter has shown it's value, FriendFeed has been “almost completely blocked” in Iran. Largely due to the service being one of the most active countries on FriendFeed. The site is also the most active region as defined by comments per user per day, according to Bret Taylor.

Finally I wanted to share a collection of photos from Boston.com which depict the demonstrations, protests and violence filtering through from Iran. I have been impressed with the Boston.com these last few months as they do produce stunning and inspiring collections from important events and situations.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

New Media Again Proves It's Value

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

I haven't really been following the Iran elections as I have been busy this weekend; horse riding, swimming and today I spent a considerable amount of time in the gym. My weekend has been relaxed and calm which is a contrast to events unfolding in Iran due to a contested election.

What is clear is that Twitter is providing better coverage of the situation in Iran than CNN. Another example of how the consumption of real-time news and media reach us faster through social media than through the mainstream news outlets. The top trending topics on Twitter highlight the #iranelection and CNN's failure #CNNfail at reacting to the news story. ReadWriteWeb have a great post on this subject and I have provided the below quotes from the article -

Twenty years ago this month, CNN brought live news about the Tienanmen Square uprising to the world. It's really strange that the network is absent from this story.

Twenty years ago CNN's coverage of Tienanmen Square made its reputation. If in twenty more years it has become consensus that real-time, online, crowdsourced media is the best place to keep up with current events, this incident could be an important part of that history unfolding.

Comparisons between mainstream and new media have become a regularly topic online. Many believe that mainstream media is on borrowed time and that new media is the place to get the latest from the scene. What are your thoughts?

Saturday, June 13, 2009

If You're Reading This..

Image via Wikipedia

If you're reading this, you are the resistance and we survived the Facebook 'Land Grab' and the Twitpocalypse. We can all move along now, nothing to see, although it was entertaining while it lasted.

Firstly the Facebook username launch was successful, Mashable were reporting from the Facebook War Room and in 3 minutes, there were 200,000 usernames registered. In 15 minutes, over half a million, and about 1% of the entire Facebook population have now secured a Vanity URL. I made sure that I was awake at 5:00AM and registered my desired username :)

Twitpocalypse, as it was being referred, didn't pass without incident as several Twitter clients were reportedly experiencing problems. Mashable report that Twitterrific, TweetDeck, Tweetie and Destroy Twitter were all affected. I received a a patched version/update for TweetDeck which is the desktop client that I use for Twitter. The iPhone applications affected by the Twitpocalypse all have to await approval first from Apple so users have to be patient for the time being. I will update this post with further details when they become available!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Vanity URLs, Twitpocalypse and Pomeranians

Image by joedawson via Flickr

This week has been eventful, browsing through the last few blog entries you will see; an introduction to keyboard cat; Apple's WWDC 2009: which included MacBook Updates, Snow Leopard and iPhone 3GS announcements; the London Tube strike which caused travel chaos; Real Madrid's transfer activity [so far]; England cruising through the World Cup qualifying campaign [so far] and tonight we have the Facebook landrush for the Vanity URL's.

Also for good measure we have just purchased a Pomeranian puppy and at some point this evening we are about to hit a Twitpocalypse. Well at least that's what it's being called as every tweet has a unique numeric identifier and tonight we're going to reach the limit. This identifier is about to hit 2,147,483,647 and when that happens it's going to be chaos in the streets, riots and the end of mankind as we know it [/sarcasm]! According to sources this is likely to affect third party Twitter clients so shouldn't have a considerable impact.

Anyway back to the Pomeranian, who we have named Teddy, and he is a cross between a Furby / Mogwai. He's very cautious at the moment but he's going to break some hearts that's for sure as he is definitely cute!! I'm going to catch some sleep now, I have set my alarm for the Facebook Vanity URL launch which takes place at 5:00AM GMT and I'm also interested in what will occur when the Twitpocalypse is upon us!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Reign In Spain

Image via Wikipedia

In recent seasons Barcelona have taken the plaudits, the players and last season they completed the treble. That's all about to change!

Real Madrid have been waiting for the proverbial rainy day, I believe that 'rainy day' came when Barcelona lifted the Champions League! That hurt Madrid and next season, they're aim is to be significantly more competitive if their acquisitions are a statement of their intentions.

Re-elected Real Madrid president Florentino Perez signed Kaka from AC Milan Monday for £59 million to begin the next Galactico era. As that reverberated around the football world that was just the beginning of the Spanish clubs transfer activity. They have since followed that with the signing of Christiano Ronaldo for £80 million, smashing the previous transfer record twice in a matter of days. Apparantly they have more funds available to spend and are being linked to Xavi Alonso, Franck Ribery and David Villa. It just got interesting..

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Strike, Strikes..

Image by joedawson via Flickr

What tube strike?! During my journey home I experienced minor delays but there wasn't any significant disruption. I was fortunate as admittedly there have been people seriously affected by the 48 hour strike. This began yesterday as talks broke down between London Underground bosses and the RMT Union.

England fans that defied the strike to travel to Wembley this evening were treated to a few goals. England have now managed to win all of their qualifiers so far and are in good form under Fabio Capello. Wayne Rooney got the first in the fourth minute followed by Lampard who scored an impressive second before Rooney found the back of the net again before the interval. In the second half substitute Jermain Defoe scored twice within five minutes before Peter Crouch finished the rout..

I watched the majority of the football from the Gym, the main stories for this evening for most people were the football and travel chaos, not here though! That's because today my son moved a step closer to becoming a man! He visited the dentist today and had his first tooth removed, when I collected them from their mothers he was all excited to tell me about the occasion. I'm sure he will be even more excited when he awakes tomorrow to see if the tooth fairy has visited.. :)

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Facebook: Vanity URL's

Image via Wikipedia

Across the majority of the social networking/media sites I frequent the username I use to actively contribute is: /joedawson, with a few exceptions, as just like in the movie Highlander:
There can be only one...
Since I joined social networking site Facebook though I am referred to as: profile.php?id=501760832. That's about to change as Facebook are providing vanity URL's from 05:01AM GMT on Saturday, June 13 on a first-come, first-serve basis:

Facebook usernames will be available in basic text forms, and you can only choose a single username for your profile and for each of the Pages that you administer. Your username must be at least five characters in length and only include alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9), or a period or full stop ("."). While usernames are currently available only for Romanized text, we're looking at how we might support non-Romanized characters in the future ~ Facebook blog

Choose wisely as once the username has been selected, you won’t be able to change or transfer it and to the other Joe Dawson's; It's most definitely on...

Monday, June 08, 2009

WWDC '09

Image by rb3wreath via Flickr

At the Apple WWDC event, Philip Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, unveiled the new iPhone 3G S, the new MacBook Pro family, and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Now the MacBook Pro family remain above my price range and the Mac OS X Snow Leopard is too much of a mouthful so the iPhone 3GS was the announcement I was anticipating most.

According to Apple the iPhone 3G S is the fastest iPhone ever, I'm totally sold [/sarcasm] although I'm sure if the announcement stated the handset was slower than the iPhone 3G that would have been a total FAIL. The handset is 2 x faster and more responsive than it's predecessor and quickly launches applications and renders web pages. Providing the ability to shoot, edit and share video and features an upgraded 3 megapixel camera with built-in autofocus. Finally we have cut, copy, and paste which works with words, photos and even acrosss applications. Also MMS functionality is available which I have largely replaced with email since using the iPhone 3G. Other features to note are voice control, compass, search, accessibility and Internet tethering to share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop. Impressive and with the iPhone 3.0 OS launching next week I can't wait to sample the improvements.