FOWA 08 in 80 words or less
I just stumbled upon some notes I took at FOWA, so this post is less than timely. Better late than never. There was copious amounts of wisdom to gather from this long weekend event, but there was one underlying theme that seemed to be woven into most, if not all, of the presentations. In the spirit of gross generalizations here is a synopsis of the most important theme to have been picked up at FOWA MIAMI 2008.
We need to embrace the fact that we are not perfect. Instead of striving for perfection, we must simply try to suck less today than we did yesterday. Firmly setting a destination, and never checking our instruments, can easily end up with a perfectly honed path to failure. If we strive to engage our community as participants, more than just users, they will willing guide us to creating the right product (as long as we remain receptive). Focus on progress.
Posted in Right Brain | No Comments »I wanted to write a punny heading for Plurk… but it is just too quirky all by itself
So it’s not exactly news, Plurk is on the scene. For the uninitiated, it is yet another microblog site. The big feature they tout is a cool AJAXy dragable timeline to display your updates (plurks) on. As a graphic designer, I really like that the folks at Plurk are carving their niche by focusing on the interface, but as a twitter user, I need attention to ease of post. What twitter seems to have really nailed is it’s transparency (via api not website interface of coarse). However, I’m sure I am far from the first to suggest that a liberal API would help a startup in this market.
Honestly, I do not see Plurk as a competitor with Twitter. Twitter is really going for being a communication platform where Plurk seems to be more focusing on the community aspect. I do see Plurk as being one to watch in the realm of microblogging in general though. Especially considering I discovered them via Jason Calacanis, the Don King of the the internet.
Posted in Confabulation | No Comments »Learning How to Love… Twitter.
I have had an account for a little while now. But it was not until recently that I got “it”. There are plenty of people explaining twitter, but the “it” factor can/ will not happen unless you play with it*. I dabbled, but until saw the “itis” at FOWA first hand, I resisted. Now, I follow via IM with sms forwarding while I refresh a web page and sample 2 air clients. It’s not a habit, it’s cool.
One big reason of writing this post is in hopes to reach someone who was like me. “Why would I want to broadcast an IM when I really don’t have that many regular contacts that I communicate with via IM?” I mean scalability doesn’t seem that important when you don’t have a large scope (I’m looking at you Ruby On Rails Devs). I ask, “Do you have any interest in what your favorite bloggers/ Internet Superstars are doing between posts (ZeFrank… we have learned our lesson, please vlog again, we all miss the show)” or “Would you like a grand equalizer that allows you to communicate real time to these ‘A’ list internet types?” Of course you would.
So, twitter is a paradigm shift in communication. Don’t be a ludite, tweet (all the cool kid’s are doing it**).
*playing with it has no proven relationship to blindness.
** Cool is subjective and a particularly difficult case to argue in terms of web apps. Please consult your local Fonz if your are seeking an increase in cool.
Posted in Confabulation | No Comments »FOWA FTW
While still on the high of just attending the FOWA Miami, I am inspired to start blogging again. If you have not yet attended a FOWA, you should. It is an awesome event put on by some excellent people. I must say, attending this conference really made me feel part of a web community, more than going to any social network ever has. Which just happened to fit in with one of the reoccurring themes in the talks “Have offline interaction with your online community”. Which, like most ideas, is as brilliant as it is simple.
There is something to be said about the excitement created by being surround by that much excellence. Paraphrasing Kathy Sierra, there is still something to be said for atoms. It is one thing to read blogs from like minded individuals and see that people want to make the web a better place, but to actually interact with so many people, in the flesh, that are passionate about the same things you are is much more powerful (assuming your into that kind of thing).
TTFN, I am off to the beach party. I have a notebook full of notes as well as some audio, video, and images. So there is definitely more to come about this.F
Posted in Confabulation | 1 Comment »Monroy Seminar Review
Hey Crime Stoppers, I just got back from attending a Photoshop seminar by Bert Monroy in Ft. Lauderdale. Monroy is an illustrator whose specialty is Photoshop and as he has been doing what he does for about as long as I have been alive, to say he knows his stuff is an understatement. More or less, I would recommend this seminar to most people, but I am not sure I was the target demographic. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Right Brain | No Comments »Dr. Strangecode or:
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the DOM.
Narrator: For more than 12 years, ominous rumors had been privately circulating among high-level web developers that a world wide consortium had been at work on what was darkly hinted to be the ultimate weapon: a doomsday device. Intelligence sources traced the home bases of this top secret international project to the perpetually fog-shrouded wasteland below the facilities of MIT/CSAIL (USA), ERCIM (France), and Keio Univ. (Japan). What they were building or why it should be located in such remote and desolate places no one could say. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Left Brain | No Comments »