It’s interesting to think of the ramifications of the work we do. None of the people that worked on the beginning pieces had any idea what their work would become.

That should inspire all of us to work with:

• humility to know when we are wrong, hear the critique, and make change
• imagination so we can even begin to conceive of vision and unintended (or intended) consequences
• love so that we can seek the betterment of society through what we do

Information overload is crushing to the soul.

It’s why we should all be excited about emerging web technologies. Here’s why:

We will no longer have to wade through the mire of content packed into tight, unsearchable places.

The old way

Jam lots of content into a printed newsletter. Force people to have to read though everything to find the pieces of content they actually want. Make sure none of this content is ever accessible again. Do not leverage this content outside the scope of your current audience. Oh, and spend lots of money to print and mail it.

The newer way

Put all of your content online – text, pictures, audio, and video. Allow users to see titles, summaries, categories, and tags to find what is useful to them. Make all this content searchable, both so that it can be found in the future and so outsiders might find something valuable to read. Store all this content for free (regardless of how many people see it). Allow folks to comment, share, link to, and otherwise engage your content.

The web lets us spread out information. It allows us to find information on demand. It’s like a proxemic white space.

It allows us to find those needles in the haystacks.

It allows us to breath.

It also levels the playing field of influence… but more on that in Part 3 next week.

Create white space. Revive your soul,

brody

To learn more about what Dropbox is and how it can help you, watch this:

Dropbox explaination video

First, Brody had a “tweet of the week” according to Bmore Media. See Brody’s famous Twitter update here.

Also, Brody was on the local news recently. WMAR-TV (Baltimore Channel 2) brought him in as a social media expert to talk about the plague of over-sharing on Facebook. Despite the horribly dumb look on Brody’s face at the beginning of the interview, it’s a good discussion on some social media theory.

You’ve heard that social media is all about “engagement” – and it certainly is. But it is also about serving your clients. More about that in a later post…

Boring video, but they’re right on.

Using the Gmail interface for email (while keeping you@yourdomain.com) is smart. So is using Google Calendar (gCal) as a shared calendar application. There are other great capabilites as well.

The best part: you don’t need to spend money on IT to keep your email working right.

If you need help using Google Apps to improve your organization’s workflow, Wordswell can help.

I do, however, use the Twitter website every time someone follows me. I like to check out who they are a little bit, look at their website in their bio, and then decide whether to follow them.

Until today, if you clicked on a user’s website in their bio, it would open that page in the current browser windon/tab, taking you out of Twitter. But now when you click on that website, it will open a new browser window/tab.

Sweet!

And it also seems smart on Twitter’s part. Once I finish being destracted by checking out someone’s website, I won’t forget to go back to Twitter to possibly return the follow.

Doesn’t that seem like something fairly obvious? It’s odd that Twitter just made that change now. Let me know what I’m missing as to why that change was only made now. Usually, as a general guide, it’s better for a site’s links to external sites to open those external sites in new windows or tabs.

Hello Friends,

We think it is critical that you know that at 12:01 AM EDT, Facebook will be offering personalized URLs for individual user accounts and all the brand pages you administer. For instance, there is no “facebook.com/yourname” currently, but that URL will be available on Saturday morning to the first claim.

These URLs are permanent and irrevocable, according to Facebook. Unlike web domains (www.yourcompany.com), this internet “real estate” cannot change ownership.

It is essential to protect your brand, name, or identity ASAP, lest it be claimed by someone else first.

Facebook is nearing 250 million users and is the third most visited site on the internet. Recent changes to Facebook have made it a place of huge opportunity for brands to interact with customers – for free.

As part of our brand development process, Wordswell helps organizations create social media strategy and guidelines.

If you would like help preparing for the Saturday land rush please call us this week. Additionally, please share this important information with your friends, especially business owners and organization leaders.

We’ll offer more insight on the Wordswell Blog this week. In the meantime, please call us to discuss your options. My cell phone number is 443-804-0108.

Make the most of every opportunity,
Brody

For further reading:
LA Times
Inside Facebook
TechCrunch
Mashable

If there were a third lesson here, it would be “play dumb”. Here goes…

In trying to get internet and tv in my new apartment, I, of course, was searching the internet for deals, specials, etc. I happened upon a site called BuyComcast.com, a third-party vendor for Comcast. Their site offered $100 grocery discount vouchers for each Comcast service you signed up for. $200 buck in rebates sounded good for me so I called them for the details.

Knowing there would be a catch, I asked the rep to walk me through every step required to get the $100 rebates. Some, I had to tease out of her; others, I had her check with other people in her company. Regardless, I wanted to make sure I got these discounts, and, at least, I was fascinated by what the process might ential. So, I wrote the steps from operator 3774:

1. Sign up for Comcast services through the BuyComcast.com site. Services were full priced, I think.

2. Wait for services to be installed.

3. Wait for the first month’s bill to be mailed by Comcast.

4. Get rebate form from BuyComcast.com website.

4a. Go to homepage
4b. Click on “Rebates” in lower right corner (go see if you can find this link…)
4c. Print PDF rebate form.

5. Mail in rebate form with copy of Comcast bill (front and back of bill).

6. Wait 16-18 weeks.

7. Receive the “registration form”.

8. Apply instantly online or by mail.

9. Wait undisclosed amount of time for coupons to come (usually a 3-4 weeks)

10. Spend $100/mo. at an approved retailer (grocery store or gas station)

11. Save original receipts.

12. Mail original receipts and coupon to redemption center.

13. Wait about 6-8 weeks.

14. Receive $25 refund/gift card (presumably, you can use this item as an actual gift card)

15. Repeat steps 10-13 to receive balance of $100 discount.

Yes, I recapped that whole process for accuracy with Operator 3774 after we codified the process. And then I asked if she thought it sounded ridiculous. Silence. On the short end it would take 11 months to get the $100 rebate. Between that, forgetting to photocopy the back of my Comcast bill, never finding the “Rebates” link in the first place, or spending $100 at an approved retailer, it was clear this company wasn’t interested in people actually receiving their discounts.

So I called Comcast directly. Comcast – the ones who, after the rampant success of the iPod, still think remotes with a user interface like this are awesome:

“No, dude. Hit the circular yellow triangle button above the up-arrow button that’s not the volume-up or channel-up control.”

I wasn’t looking forward to this whole Comcast thing. I have them in the same lousy category as Verizon, and especially Best Buy. But I called. Talked to Jeremy. Told him I was comparing my tv and internet options, and that I was interested in learning more about Comcast and their packages.

“If you buy this from me today – literally right now – I can do this special deal for you,” he pushed. (Later, he would be calling me back after I asked time to think about it). That made me nervous in the “Oh boy, here we go…” way, but I pressed on.

The rest of the conversation consisted of questions like, “What the deal with _____?” “Can I do _____?” “Are you able to _____?” “You said ____. Is that limited by my geography? No?” And basically every question was answered with a concession or offer on his part!

Importantly, one of the first questions I asked was “How do we get back in touch with each other if we get disconnected?” I wanted him to know that he had a good chance at a sale.

Anyway, here’s where we ended: Basic cable, movie channels (which I declined), HDTV DVR box, 12 KBPS internet, modem, and wireless router for $65 a month – FOR 12 MONTHS! Oh, and half-price installation.

Not bad.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a sucky remote discount.

If you need help getting your Apple hardware (macs, iPhones) up and running – and working for YOU – let me know.

hmm… Something for twitter. Tweetie is most popular. I LOVE Twittelator Pro.

Google

Some RSS reader if you read blog/content fees. NetNewsWire is great – it syncs with your desktop to know what has/has not been read already.

Wall Street Journal has good news in their “what’s news” and “editors picks” sections. The rest of the standard crap I just go to cnn.com through mobile safari.

Facebook app is great.

Sportacular (my favorite) or SportsTap (Lisa’s) for scores, standings.

Trapster for on-the-fly speed trap warnings.

HUGE ONE+++++: Easy Wi-Fi for logining into WiFi at Starbucks without having to enter UN/PW in web browser.

There are some good free/cheap workout programs

Radio stuff:
Speakers (plays your computer iTunes through your iPod touch – which I guess you could wire to a stereo in another room)
Pandora
AOL radio
IHeartRadio

Flickster for movies.

Wi-Fi Finder for knowing what Wi-Fi is around.

Banner (Free) for projecting a message across a crowded room.

ICanHasCheezburger for a good laugh (LOL Cats, Fail, etc.).

The Weather Channel (live radar, etc.).

Skype

Some file-sharing program. I haven’t used these yet, but I hear Air Sharing is good. There’s also box.net, Briefcase Lite, Files Lite, and many others…

The only apps on here that aren’t free are the Twitter ones (and maybe Air Sharing).

Hope that helps.
brody