Follow Drew, LIVESTRONG!

On October 25, 2009, in twitter, by danielvining

@DrewFromTV

@DrewFromTV

I know this is not a new topic, but I feel like everyone needs to be reminded.  Drew Carey, popular from his 90s hit sitcom “The Drew Carey Show”, and as the current host of “The Price is Right” is spear heading an initiative to raise money for Lance Armstrong’s L I V E S T R O N G Foundation.  The way that Carey is going about doing this is pretty interesting.  He has committed to donate 1 dollar for every Twitter follower he has up to 1 million dollars/followers.

As of October 25th, Carey has 114+ thousand followers.  That is just a drop in the hat compared to the millions that other users, like new American Idol judge Ellen Degeneres have.  We, the geek community at large, can do a lot to help this cause reach it’s goal.  Let us be the grass roots Twitter effort to encourage others to pledge to this cause.

Being a part of this cause if free.  Drew has committed the dollars for you, so all you have to do is take action, and follow him on Twitter.  Follow http://www.twitter.com/drewfromtv and spread the word by adding him to one of your lists (if you have that feature) and mentioning the cause to your friends, co-workers, fellow bloggers, and of course, Follow Friday.

Sure, 1 million dollars is just a small drop in the bucket, but 100,000 dollars barely makes a ripple.  We have until the end of the year to get this done, so let’s do it!

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Installations Galore

On May 2, 2009, in social networking, technology, by danielvining

I installed Flock, AIM, and Instant Bird today.  Among all the work I have been doing on danielvining.com, today I also installed AIM for the first time since at least 2006.  I grew really tired of all the junk associated with AOL in general, so I dropped the service.  I currently find myself in a position where having this service will provide yet another means of contact to friends, relatives, and my online community friends.

Since I do have multiple service accounts, I am experimenting with an all-in-0ne chat client for the first time.  I choose Instant Bird to start, but I will most likely try out a few different clients until I find the best one for my needs.  My needs are simple.  One client program that can accomodate my Yahoo, AIM, Skype, IRC, and G-Talk accounts.  I don’t expect that I will be able to totally meet those requirements, but I am going to try.  The possibility of having one program take the place of four or five is enough to keep me searching.  Suggestions are welcome.

Finally today, well actually a couple days ago, I installed the Flock web browser.  I started exploring this interesting browser based on the Mozilla engine.  So far, I am a little over whelmed by this alternative take at social aggregation.  It is going to take a lot more time and exploration before I can decide if I like it over any of the others.  My current browser of choice in Google Chrome.  Perhaps the reason for this Chrome’s simplicity.  It has plenty of features for me, including being able to save a shortcut as an application.

I installed these programs to better help me communicate with anyone on the internet.  My bet is that the more old fashion means of communication will still stay in the foreground.  Telephone, Email, and IRC.  Only time will tell if I will decide to use an agrigator to condense the many perspectives I get from using the many different programs, but I am willing to give it a try.

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New Addiction: Facebook

On April 30, 2009, in facebook, myspace, social networking, by danielvining

Well, try as I might, I could not help but to fall into the massive void that is Facebook.  I know, I know.  I am very late in the game, yet that doesn’t change the fact that I am now addicted to this service.  

I was an early adopter to Myspace, Facebook’s rival in the social networking game, back in 2005.  Within my Myspace profile, I grew a better understanding of HTML, got my fix on adding as many friends as I could, and kept in touch with friends in both my hometown of Pensacola, FL  and the place that I called home for five years, Minot, ND.  As 2005 drew into 2006, and 2007, I became a bit over saturated by Myspace.  By 2008 it had become the place where I would watch people continue on with their lives, while at the same time I started to respond less and less.  I was tired of Myspace.

Jump to now, 2009, and I have found new life in social networking, through Facebook.  It started with wanting to create a more professional social net presence that I felt Myspace could not provide.  Facebook for me has begun to overtake Myspace as my number one most visited site thus far this year.  I keep a Facebook page open all the time, and constantly check my email to see if there are any new updates.  Never a big fan of Myspace Apps, I don’t see myself changing that on Facebook.  There do seem to be more apps that truly cater to networking.  Although I don’t like how hard it can be to find new friends on Facebook, I feel that overall the user experience on this social network is safer.  

I don’t know if this new “addiction” will last as long as Myspace did, but I do know that I am enjoying this service now.  It is a huge tool that has let me reconnect with a ton of old friends, and expand into new relationships in both my personal and professional life.

Today I spent a good deal of time catching up with some dear friends from my past on Facebook. It was a good feeling to say hello to some people that I haven’t talked to in a long time. I also spent some time editing my Facebook account. I also worked on my Linked In online resume, and my paper resume. Not bad for a Friday.

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