A Bit Eclectic

Use Twitter to:

Broadcast your status, opinions, jokes, and news.
Connect with friends, family, celebrities, authors, and politicians.
Follow live updates of current events and trends.

The power of Twitter is derived from its simplicity. It is a bare bones framework where you choose how to extract value. It is a tool to send text from point A to point B and that is as complicated as it gets. Unlike a blog or website, you don’t need to know code or worry about design. There is no initial cost (monetary or time), you just pick up and go.

The value is built on top of this foundation. Like all services, the value comes from the information that you extract. This information and value comes from the three points above.

I constantly get asked about Twitter. It is hard to give a concrete answer because it can be molded however you want. I doubt my friend would be interested in following nerdy figures like John Gruber (from Daring Fireball) or Bre Pettis (his blog). However, they might want regular new updates from the New York Times sent to their phone.

Everyone should take the time to experiment with Twitter Search. It will blow your mind if you have never looked at the current trends or followed a search term. Twitter Search taps into the power created by thousands of individuals posting updates. It is a real time feed of news, thoughts, opinions, and emotion. Sometimes it is easier to get product reviews from Twitter Search then stumbling around the web.

Twitter is a great way to stay connected with friends and family, if you can persuade them to join. It has become one of the main ways that my brothers and I have stayed connected since we left for college. My Mom is slowly working on getting her own account, the current plan is to sign up by spring break.

One of Twitter’s co-founders, Evan Williams, gave a talk at this year’s TED conference. What better way to grasp Twitter than to hear it from the horses mouth.

You can follow me on Twitter and even get A Bit Eclectic updates.

Here is a new feature I stumbled upon last night. Google Maps has added the street view feature to driving directions. Now you can get a glance at the route before you even get in the car. When you look up driving directions on Google Maps, a little camera icon will appear next to the streets. If you click on the icon the street view will pop up on the map. From here you can zoom in and pan around to get a good look at the surrounding area. If you don’t see the camera icon, street view may not be supported in your city.

Overall it is a great addition. However, I only see one real good use for it. Sometimes when you are driving, street signs can be hard to see. This can be especially true late at night in a poorly lit area. With this feature, you can get a look at the houses and landmarks surrounding the intersection. This will make it easier to recognize your turn on those easy to miss streets.

Google has provided some other great uses in this video. Some of them seem a little far fetched to me, but your millage may vary.

The Twitter following is growing larger everyday.  It seems like more and more people that I know, both in person and through the internet, are joining.  One of the biggest hurdles is keeping these people on long enough so they see the benefit.  Here are some tips to make your trip with Twitter as enjoyable as possible.

1. Turn on phone updates. – Twitter works best when you have easy access to it, and what better way then through your phone.  If you are like most humans, you constantly have your cell phone with you.  This provides the easiest access to Twitter.  Once you link up your phone, it will only take seconds to post (send texts to 40404).  The other bonus is that you will receive updates from your friends.  You can choose whose updates get sent to your phone and whose will remain on the web.
2. Follow, follow, follow. – Follow people.  Get your friends to join and follow them.  The fun doesn’t stop there.  It is completely acceptable to follow people you have never met.  You may not know the journalists who write your morning paper, yet you still read their articles.  If you think they post neat stuff then they probably deserve a follow.  I understand that some of you may not know many people on the internet, so here is a list to get you started.  Remember that you can always stop following people down the road with no hard feelings.  Add first and decide later.
   • Biz Stone - He is one of the co-founders of Twitter.  His tweets vary greatly.  It couldn’t hurt to start here.
   • Jack Dorsey - Another co-founder of Twitter.  Again, it couldn’t hurt.
   • Veronica Belmont - Co-host of tech podcast Tekzilla.  She has some real quality tweets.  I highly recommend following her.
   • Annette - It is true that this is my girlfriend, so I may be a little biased.  But, my friends tell me they enjoy her updates more than mine.
   • John Gruber - He generally posts interesting tweets.  Be warned, he posts a bit on the techy side.
   • Amy Jane Gruber - This is a must follow in my book.  Her tweets are absolutely hilarious.  They are so good that me and my girlfriend often discuss them.
   • Scott Simpson - Another must follow.  He posts a real grab bag of material.
   • Scott Beale - Writter of laughingsquid.com.  He often posts links to other sites.
   • Gary Vaynerchuk - If you are a fan of Wine Library TV, then I don’t really need to say more.  Careful, Gary tends to post a lot.
   • Dr. Tiki, Johnny Johnny, Lala - Fans of Tiki Bar TV will like these.
   • Alex Albrecht, Dan Trachtenburg, Jeff Cannata - These are the hosts of the Totally Rad Show.  Great guys all around and good to follow.  Oh and I couldn’t leave out Steve who mans the camera and has mad editing skills.
   • Me - You can always follow me.  If you like the content of this blog, then you may find my updates entertaining.
3. Relax and update. – Don’t hold back.  If something pops into your head then send it off.  Something that you think is mundane may just make someone’s day.  The more you update the better Twitter becomes.  Have fun with it.  This service is meant to provide a good time and if you let it, it can be a blast.

This should be more than enough to get you on your way.  I wish you the best of luck in this crazy internet world limited to 140 characters.  

Jott is a great service that allows you to send messages simply by calling a number. The free service will transcribe your voice to text. You can then receive an email or go to jott.com to see your list. It is much faster to browse through a written list of items than listen to multiple voice notes. Jott also allows you to send notes to other people.

Integration

One of the greatest features of Jott is its integration with other web services. One example is with the excellent to-do service Remember the Milk. With Jott, you can add items to your to-do list while on the go. Just call Jott and tell it to send your note to Remember the Milk.

If you want to take notes on the go, give Jott a try.

Photoshop Express keeps gaining more and more respect in my book. Today I discovered its “social” aspect. Some of you may already know this, but it is still an outstanding feature.

Photoshop Express integrates with Facebook, Photobucket, and Picasa. Now you can edit your photos on these services through Photoshop Express. It is all done within the comfort of the Photoshop Express interface. You get all the features just as if the photo was in Photoshop Express to begin with.

I would be even happier if it were integrated with flickr as well. Hopefully this is what the future brings.

Have you ever wanted a quick overview of the latest news? Need somewhere you can drop in and quickly catch up on current happenings. I would recommend checking out popurls.com. At Popurls you can read up on current topics in different categories of your choosing. This site will give you a quick glance of current news that only takes a few minutes.

Popurls has some great features that help you digest news quickly. You can organize the site so that the topics that interest you most are at top while the rest remain near the bottom. You can also sort the page by either website, category, or even chronological order.

Another feature is a pop up news bubble. When you hover over a headline, a little bubble appears giving you a summary of the article. You can then choose to click and read the entire article. This helps save time so you can quickly find more information and more interesting articles.

What about RSS? Why use Popurls when you can get your news through a feed reader?

Popurls and RSS feeds both offer ways to read news but are not mutually exclusive. RSS readers are great for keeping a stockpile of articles and provides you with in depth reading from your favorite sites. RSS is akin to sitting down with a newspaper and reading the news for the day. Popurls, on the other hand, provide you a way to keep up on breaking news. Similar to turning on the TV to catch up on the day’s breaking news.

If you are interested in catching the breaking news head over to popurls.com. For an introduction to RSS, check out this post.

Do you have something to say?  Anything at all?  Have you considered blogging?

There are many great things about blogging.  It allows you to get your opinion out there and share information about the things you know.  You could tell stories or create works of fiction.  Maybe you will start a video or photo blog to share you newest masterpiece.  The possibilities are truly endless.  Hopefully now I have you wondering, where do I get started?

Where do you start?

The first step is to find a place to start your blog.  I recommend  Wordpress, but there are also other alternatives like Blogger, Typepad, and Live Journal.  All of these will give you a place to host your blog.  This is just a short list and there are many other options out there.  You can do some research upfront or just start digging in to one of these.  Be careful, most sites offer free plans, but some do have paid options.  I would recommend going the $0 route, at least for when you get started.  Down the road you can decide if the paid version is right for you.  Just remember that there are always alternatives that charge nothing.  Now you can head over to any of these sites and set up an account.

So you have a blog, now what?

Write.  Start out with whatever you feel needs to be said.  The first few posts may be on the rough side, but eventually you will find your voice.  The more you write, the more comfortable it will get.  After you get the writting down, you can look at the customization options.  Most of these services offer lots of ways to customize your blog so it fits you.  Remember to get the posts up first, then customize.  People will come to read your content, not to see the neat layout.  

A tip about writing.  Just start, it can be about anything.  As time goes on, you will probably close in on a topic.  Some people have a theme from the get go, but there is no harm in starting broad.  Write about whatever floats your boat.

Will anybody read it?

Don’t worry about statistics.  At first you will have one reader, and it will be you.  It takes time to develop a following.  People won’t find your site overnight.  If you keep writing, eventually people with the same interests will stumble upon your site.  Write for the content, not the views.  Your posts will be of higher quality and the views should naturally follow.  When you first start out I recommend letting your friends and family know about your blog.  Those closest to you will be more than happy to read your posts.  They will be intrigued to see what you have to say.

You should also get involved with other’s blogs.  If you like their blog, they might have the same interests as you.  Read and comment on their posts.  One day they might just return the favor.  Although this may increase your views, be cautious.  Have a genuine interest in their blog.  You wouldn’t want someone commenting on your posts just so you will read theirs.  Don’t worry about getting them to your site, it is more important to develop a relationship.

What are you waiting for?

These are the basics to blogging.  It is simply writing about something you know and/or care about.  Always remember that it is about the content, not the stats.  So get out there and enrich the community with your opinions, knowledge, and insight.  If you eventually feel that it isn’t for you, just stop.  Hopefully you will stick with it so that others can enjoy what you write.  If you do go out and start a blog, leave a comment on my site.  I love to see what others have started.