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Archive for "Blog"

Companies on Twitter

Posted on December 19, 2008 by under Blog, Web.    

It’s funny. The other day when I was tweeting a lot about Carrabba’s I had told Brian jokingly, “Just watch. Carrabba’s is going to start following me any day now.” Jason’s Deli and a few other companies had found me the same way. One day I was tweeting about them (in the case of Jason’s Deli, I had posted a couple of food pictures), the next day they’re following my updates. Sure enough, I received an email notifying me that Carrabba’s is now following me. In return I started following them, too.

There are a lot of companies already utilizing Twitter to creep out their customers. Comcast being one. I remember I had posted a link to an article about this exact same thing, and I received an @reply back from them saying something to the effect of it’s not being creepy per se but more good customer service than anything else. Anyway, since I’ve been posting a lot about my dissatisfaction with FedEx and not delivering my package as scheduled, I wonder if they’ve noticed. Does anyone know if FedEx is on Twitter? We’ll find out soon enough I guess.

Click here for an extensive list of companies who are on Twitter. Here are some relevant articles:

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Real-Time Blog Traffic Feeds

Posted on December 11, 2008 by under Blog, Web.    

I’m usually against cluttering the blog with useless crap. I’m deviating from my usual MO this time, though. FEEDJIT doesn’t seem competely useless. 🙂

The live traffic feed on the bottom right corner of the page tells me where the last ten visitors are from. Pretty interesting info. Plus, isn’t this map thing kind of neat? Okay, so it will be neater once the visitors start registering on there. =P

I also added the WassUp WordPress plugin, but you can’t see it because I didn’t enable the widget. I’m just gathering data right now. I’ll process all that info later. Mostly it’s just for my own use. So I don’t think I’ll be adding the widget at all. The charts and stuff are cool. I like the mini one that appears in my dashboard. All that info is just strictly for me, though. No need to share it with the rest of the world. 😉

[ Jenni: Let me know if you want me to load the plugin in your WP also. The database can get huge for sites with lots of traffic so, if you decide you want it, please be sure to set the database to automatically empty the tables on a fairly regular basis immediately after activation. Come to think of it, let me know if you want any of my plugins and I will load them in your plugins folder also. ]

Speaking of traffic and stats, I think I broke something on my web site because my Awstats haven’t worked since the end of May. Not that it matters any. I can count the number of people who visit this site in one hand. I just want to be prepared with data gathering tools for when traffic starts piling in. =P

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Low/No Cost Gift Ideas

Posted on December 9, 2008 by under Blog, Life.    

Brian told me about one of his coworker’s recent experience while searching for “cassette tapes” at a store. His coworker (who will remain anonymous so as not to embarrass him anymore than he already is) told him that the store employees laughed at him. Of course, the teenage employees probably have no idea what a “cassette tape” is or what it looks like. LOL.

When we were cleaning out the garage over the summer, we had trashed a bunch of my old tapes (I had brought most of them with me when I moved to the US from the Philippines in the early 90s back when CDs first emerged but I wasn’t cool enough or wealthy enough to afford them). Of course, the tapes were thrown in the garbage only after I was ridiculed by Brian not just for owning such primitive audio storage devices but also for my apparent lack of musical taste.

“What did his coworker need cassette tapes for?” I wondered. Brian thought he must be attempting to make a mix tape for someone. I’m like, “Hasn’t he ever heard mix CDs?” The quality is so much better than their analog predecessors.

Anyway, that got me thinking of low/no cost gift ideas. Remember a few years ago (five to be exact), I wrote about the gift of blog and how I had gifted it to Matt and Logan that Christmas? It cost me nothing. Matt actually tried to blog for a year or so before getting bored and giving it up. I wish he would have met his wife Jennifer then, I think she might have put the gift to better use. She is an avid blogger like myself. Then again, I can’t really complain because the gift didn’t cost me a dime.

The ideas that I’m about to share are along those same lines. They shouldn’t cost anything at all. Even if they do, the cost to the gift giver is minimal.

Let’s start with a mix CD since we were just talking about it. This could consist of music that you think the other person would enjoy or maybe music that you enjoy that you would like to share with the recipient. If you are a musician or musically talented in some way, this mix tape could consist of your music. [spoiler alert] Kind of like what Edward made for Bella, which I thought was really romantic. [end spoiler]

Bake cookies and other treats and wrap it in colorful, festive cellophane. If you are not musically talented, but are talented in the kitchen, this would be right up your alley. Actually, you don’t even have to be an expert chef so long as you can work in the kitchen without setting it on fire. Hey, food that tastes good is a bonus. If it’s not quite perfect just remind yourself that it’s the thought that counts. You could always cheat like my coworker/friend Lance does. He enlists the aid of his wife. Her goodies are always delicious.

Brew some beer and share it. Okay, so this one takes some investment. However, you could have all the men on your gift list covered in one shot. Unless, of course, they are allergic to alcohol (like Brian). Check out @chadsmith’s web site BEER Dad for more info. From what I gather, he is an expert at this sort of thing.

Create art. This is ideal for those like me who are no good in the kitchen. Not that I’m artistic or anything, but at least if I give you something that is not edible there is less risk of food poisoning. You could write a poem (or copy your favorite one) on fancy stationery or cardstock. You could draw or paint something and frame it (the dollar store has many inexpensive picture frames that will be suitable for this). Take some photos and create a photobook. The list is endless.

Compile your favorite recipes and create a recipe book. This is perfect because then the recipient can learn how to make your favorite dishes. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and one that you will certainly benefit from for years to come. LOL.

Pass along a book. Speaking of books, this one is a good idea. I’ve always been reluctant to buy books because I never know what to do with them after I’m done reading. We have boxes upon boxes of old books collecting dust. Nowadays I just opt for either borrowing books from the library or reading ebooks. If you are an avid book collector, though, this will give your old books a new purpose. Give your favorite book to a friend so they might also experience the magic for themselves.

Offer your services like babysitting, massage, shoeshine, housecleaning, dog-walking… You get the picture. Create little coupons or certificates for the giftee to redeem at a time of their choosing.

These are just some ideas. There are so many ways to demonstrate thoughtfulness and show that you care without going broke. I will add to this as I think of other ideas. Please feel free to post your own suggestions in the comments section also.

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Local WiFi 411

Posted on October 8, 2008 by under Blog, Web.    

Brian and I have a new web site! We started working on it last Sunday. It’s a community project, so please be sure to register and share any information you have. So far we only have a map of Wichita, but we should have more soon. Stay tuned!

Local WiFi 411
Things to do:

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Reasons for Using Tumblr

Posted on January 9, 2008 by under Blog, Web.    

I think it’s interesting how blogging has evolved and regressed at the same time. I remember when Blogger was a lot like how Tumblr is now. Remember? Back in the day, you had to use a third party commenting thingie in order to allow comments on your blog. Blogs were so simple then. As time progressed new features were added, making blogs more and more complex. The nice thing about Tumblr is that it allows you to easily post pictures, music, and videos without having to do any messy HTML coding. It reminds me of the good, ol’ days when blogs were really, really simple.

Of course, my blogging platform of choice is WordPress. Obviously, this blog is still on WordPress. I like all the plug-ins. There’s plenty of room in my heart for bells and whistles. Besides, this blog makes money. Not a lot, but some. Enough for lunches, anyway. So we have to keep this blog as it is and not mess with it.

This blog isn’t well suited to short updates, though. That’s where Twitter comes in. I post short updates in Twitter. Some classify it as a micro-blogging tool, but it’s not quite. I mean, you can’t really say much in 140 characters. Tumblr bridges the gap between Twitter and WordPress. In my mind Twitter is on one end of the spectrum, WordPress is on the other end, and Tumblr is somewhere in between.

While it’s not likely that I’ll be moving Life After Marriage to Tumblr, it is growing on me. Here are just a few of the reasons why:

  • Everyone’s doing it
    I figured since all the cool kids had one, I should have one too. I’m a little behind, I know. I didn’t get in on the action until the other day. So I didn’t find out about it until release 3.0? That’s okay. This is the best release anyway.
  • Mobile browsing and mobile posting
    Mobile browsing is great for those days in class when you are just bored out of your mind and you’ve checked your email several times already. Just kidding. Class is never boring and I always pay attention. Mobile posting through Tumblr is neat because there’s nothing to it. There’s no code thing that you have enter in order for it to get set up. You have an email address, and you simply start emailing. Not exactly the most secure way to do it, but the simplicity is worth it.
  • Feeds
    You can integrate your WordPress, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook posts, Del.icio.us, Twitter (etc. etc. etc.) all into Tumblr so, theoretically, you don’t even have to do anything on Tumblr. Your Tumblr will update itself. I think this is a great feature, which I’m probably getting too carried away with. Currently, they only allow integration of up to five feeds. I really need a lot more than this because I want to integrate everything. It’s a start, though. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll allow me to have more.
  • No comments = no comment spam
    So yeah. I’m not really worried about not having comment functionality. If I want comments, I’ll post it on here. My Tumblr is more of a monologue. I speak, you listen. LOL. Sometimes, you need an outlet like that.
  • And the best reason to use Tumblr: It’s so simple that even your grandparents can use it!

Anyway, I’m really digging Tumblr except mine is kind of broken right now. I tweaked Bill Israel’s Easy Reader theme and now it won’t show up in IE. It works fine in Firefox, though. So either I messed up something pretty badly or IE is just really stupid. Probably the latter. It’s time to switch to Firefox, anyway. LOL. Get , it will make your life better.

UPDATE: Okay, so maybe IE isn’t stupid – I AM. Ugh. I was at least smart enough to track down the theme designer. He was nice enough to step me through troubleshooting via instant messenger. Apparently I am too stupid to troubleshoot on my own because as soon as he stepped me through it, everything started working just fine.

Brian always tells me that when I panic, I go blind. Like when I’m looking for something in the closet. It could be right there in front of me and I won’t see it.

My apologies to IE for blaming the problem on it. Obviously, this was a simple ID10t error. I just need to calm down a bit. But Firefox is still better. So get , anyway.

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