The Bacon Post

Trying to post photos again after Joseph Scott pointed out I may have a broken PHP file on my server. I installed the plugin he built to resolve the issue. Now I'm going to try a post with multiple photos.

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WordPress iPhone App Fail

I've tried, I've really tried, but using the WordPress client application on the iPhone just sucks. The last three posts I've created have all had problems. I fully understand it's a free product, and there are no guarantees, but I expect more from the WordPress folks. Here is the latest snafu.

I have hesitated to upload photos to my blog from third party clients because I feared what happened tonight, would happen. I took several photos of my Family attending a play, created a new post in my iPhone WordPress application, inserted media from my phone, and posted. Of course, the posting had issues, mainly, the HTML used to show the photos was hosed. Here is what was sent to WordPress:



And here is what it should have looked like:



So, the post that was sent out to my RSS feed now has 6 photos with incorrect formatting and links. Frustrating to say the least.

Before trying to post to my WordPress blog, I sent the same photo set to my Tumblr site, via email, with zero problems.

The final thing I thought would take place is the creation of a Gallery. If I had included say 20 or 30 images, it would have been nice to see a slide show or at least thumbnails for each image. Instead, the images were inserted, full size, and with a large amount of images,  the post would have been several hundred feet off the screen. Just doesn't seem like the whole posting media from the iPhone app is working right.

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A Christmas Carol With The Family

Sharing some photos I took at the Hale Centre Theatre watching A Christmas Carol.

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I've Gotta Get Out More

Sometimes technology has a way of sucking up all your time. Facebook, Twitter, iPhone, laptop, AngryBirds; you get my meaning. There is so much information flying around out there it's simply overwhelming. I've come to realize I can't consume it all. I need to get out more.

People want to spend more time with their Families during the Holidays. Me too. I think unplugging on a consistent basis is a good thing. Nothing scientific, just makes sense. I live and work in a technology world, it's easy to fall into the trap of the next coolest thing. I really need to get out.

It's my time now, so I'll curl up with a good book on my Kindle, and fall asleep listening to Bach on Pandora. Isn't technology great? I need to get out more.

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Open Source Software Is A Complex Game

Open Source Software (OSS) defenders are angry. Consumers are confused. Lawsuits are increasing, but aren't the answer. The development, marketing and usage of Open Source Software has become more complex over the past several years. I'm an advocate of OSS, but even I have fallen victim to laziness and lack of education when it comes to following the rules of use. This is such an enormous issue, and I will be the first to admit I don't know all the legalities, but wanted to share my experiences using OSS.

Why Open Source Software Is Appealing
I could start a list that would go on for several pages as to why OSS is appealing to me. Many advocates like the freedom OSS gives them. The ability to use, and modify software, to work how they want. There are die hards and casual users. And that really presents the problem. The appeal of free software overshadows the rules you are supposed to follow.

Why is Open Source Software Freely Available?
A question I get asked a lot is why anyone would develop free software. My first answer is, it really isn't free, it's just freely available. I'm giving you, the user, the right to use my software. But you don't own it, and there are some restrictions.

Perpetuating The Free Software Misconception
Some time back I was attending a small presentation with other entrepreneurs. One well respected person got up in front of the group and presented their view on how to get bootstrap businesses off the ground fast. The first thing they recommended was to outsource all the software development to a third world country, because it's basically a commodity. The other was to use open source software, because it's free.

Wrong on both accounts. Software development isn't a commodity, and that view, by someone building a technology company, shows me they have little respect for what they are selling. And I in turn could not respect a company who thought so little of the people building your product.

The other issue is that open source software is free. The fact of the matter is most OSS have a restriction on commercial use. Yes, that would be using OSS to run your business website could potentially violating the licensing of the software.

Why I Like Open Source Software
I'm all about reuse and not re-inventing the wheel. In software development, if I can use some existing code, follow it's usage rules, I can get things done faster. Open source software sometimes gives me the base for building something. I like the ability to add, enhance or remove features that I need to solve a problem. And that means cheaper for the customer. But I really have to try hard to follow the rules of use because I sometimes overlook the importance of following them.

Giving back to the community is another aspect of OSS that is commonly overlooked. If we always take and never give back, we have only ourselves to blame when projects fail, or contributors never get around to implementing new features. The greatest support you can give a piece of OSS is contributing to the project. That's a great form of payment. Money is good too in the form of donations, but most projects just need fingers on the keyboard.

There are a number of OSS licensing, distribution and ownership rules. Too many, and too complex to cover in this post, but I will follow up with some pointers, ideas, and best use for typical open source software.

To learn more about OSS and how you can keep from running into potential problems, visit this Wikipedia article.

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Person Of The Year: The Web API

No sense in waiting a few more weeks to announce this, I don't think two more weeks is going to change the outcome. Votes are in, tallied and tabulated, and hands down the Person of the Year is? The Web API.

Web API's are the hottest thing on the Internet and in Web development. Application like Twitter and Facebook provide third party applications access to their data through API's. Companies like Kynetx use Web API's to enhance the web experience. Applications like Foursquare not only have their own API, but use API's to connect Facebook, Twitter and other services.

These web accessible data points are becoming more and more common, and key parts of application development. Web parts make getting products out the door faster with less development time. As platforms move their storage and web servers to the cloud, the easier it is to compete on global level with fewer resources.

However there are a few drawbacks. And for the me the biggest of these is the dependence on another companies ability to stay online. Take for example applications that rely solely on the Twitter API. If that API goes down, you application is dead in the water. This is a risk yo take when relying on these web parts. But in the end, the risks generally outweigh the risk, especially if your application is non-mission critical.

Bottom line is, Web API's are here to stay, and are all the rage. But more importantly, they are a useful integral part of the web landscape.

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No Development For Old Men

I started listening to a new podcast today, well new for me, called This Developers Life. And aparently I started listening at a great time. The podcast is hosted by Rob Conery and Scott Hanselman. The podcast is a discussion on things technical and not so technical. Great idea, been wanting to do something like this for a while.

Last weeks show Scott made a comment how developers who can't keep up with fast changing technologies, give up and go into management. At first I thought what big balls this guy has to make a statement like that. He was basically saying that if you can't keep up you're a loser, and the only thing left for you is management.

The rest of the day was spent reflecting on my career, the choices I've made, and the direction I am heading. I also wondered if I had made that choice; give up trying and default to management.

The movie title No Country for Old Men popped into my head at one point. I some times feel like that. What to do with old developers. I remembered back to my days during Y2K, and the number of Cobol programmers brought out of moth balls to help remediate code written 30 years ago. For a short while they felt useful again. It must have been exciting to be back in the game.

I digress. Back to Scotts comments, Rob's thoughts, and a follow up interview with a listener named Mark Freedman. I've read Marks blog off and on, and his story is about a technology Manager trying to get back into development, and the struggles he is facing. It's a great read, and I appreciate his openness.

Honestly, I've tried to spend more time in management, and less time coding. It wasn't that I couldn't, or wouldn't, keep up with the fast pace of changing development technologies. My choice, I thought, was for the need to share my experience, mentor other developers, and work on the big picture of projects. I have also used the "I can't keep up" excuse several times, as a way to express my displeasure of development. I think I was really just copping out.

So how do Old Developers get a Country? Well, just because I'm older, and not as fast, doesn't mean I need to shelve my development efforts. Scott and Mark both talk about going solo, forging ahead on your own, and filling multiple roles; developer, manager, entrepreneure. I've freelanced for some time, and I know the grass isn't greener on that side either. That path has it's own unique issues. But the trade off was I get to code, get to manage, and get to innovate. The best of all worlds. I think that could be a great Country for Old Developers, like me.

I'm amazed how much one podcast has affected me. Great job Rob and Scott (and Mark too). I love it when someone makes me think about my own situation, and causes true change. Working on my career plan, which I haven't updated or added to in a long time.

(Image from Firstshowing.net)

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Google eBook Store - The Good And Bad

Today I received a notice that Google had opened their long awaited digital book store. I was excited to see what they had to offer, so I promptly loaded up the site. The interface Googlesque; clean and simple.

Android, iPad/iPhone/iTouch, the Web, the Nook and something from Sony. Having all the mobile devices is great. Sorry BlackBerry, 2 inch screens aren't really conducive to reading. But I'm sure at some point you'll get an app too.

I ran through all the new releases, categories, and searched for books. There's a pretty decent selection, and I'm sure most people will find what they want in the store.

My big problem is the books still cost almost retail price. I'm still amazed we are paying physical book prices. But that's a post for another day.

There is nothing over the top or game changing here. I'm surprised Google built a "Me Too" product. Or will this be a 3 year long beta product adding small additions as they go.

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Temple Square Lights

I walked by the Salt Lake Temple this evening just as the Christmas lights came on, so I snapped a few pics on my iPhone 4. I can tell when looking at these full screen that I take crappy photos on the iPhone.

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A Twitter Client With A Brilliant UI Design

There is one reason I use the Twitter iPhone client over any other, it's a killer user interface design element. Here is the normal stream view

Now, simply slide your finger over any of the Tweets, and a menu of options are opened up. Now I can act on the tweet without having to open it up. Brilliant.

Try it out, very cool.

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Cutting Out The Bloat Of Cable

I've been forced by circumstance to evaluate my usage of, and payment for, Cable/Satellite TV. What follows is an overview of my attempt to find free or low cost alternatives to the bloated cost of Cable/Satellite.

The first thing I wanted to do was evaluate how much TV we actually watched. Most of our live viewing happened in the morning, catching up on local news. Almost everything else was watched from the DVR (digital video recorder). My biggest hurdle was finding a way to watch free local TV.

Finding the local channels turned out to be easier than I originally thought. I had been so programmed to watch TV via Cable/Stallite, I completely forgot TV is broadcast through the air. I spent days trying to figure out how to get to streaming news from local channels. TO no avail (which is a fail in my view, TV stations need to get their content on line or stream it live).

Thanks to Noah Sparks, who reminded me you can get HD channels over the air, with an antenna. I made my way to the local tech store, got an antenna, hooked it up, and voila, free local channels, so now we can get the news when we want it.

The next difficult hurdle was figuring out how to watch shows that I couldn't record to a DVR. There are several open source and commercial products that let you record TV and store it on a local hard drive, but I would have to invest in more hardware, and setup is time consuming. I wanted something easy. Several services came to mind, Netflix, Hulu+, Amazon Video on Demand, and Apple TV.

Netflix

Netflix is a no brainer. The setup was easy (built in to my Blu-ray player), and gives me the ability to stream movies and TV shows, or order a DVD. My only wish for Netflix was they make current seasons available the next day. But I can live without that for now.

The other big draw to Netflix for me is the absence of ads. I'm paying for the individual content, I don't want to see ads. Ever.

Web Shows

Next I went through our current DVR to see what was being recorded, and then tried to find the corresponding show on the channels web site. Typically these sites make shows available soon after they have aired live. In most cases I was able to find the show, both current episodes, and past episodes. All include advertising, before during and after. But for free, can't complain.

Hulu+

This is a complete failure. Not only does Hulu+ charge a monthly fee, they also run ads during a show. Seriously? They also struggled to deliver streaming content without buffering. I watched shows from several services all on the same night, and Hulu+ was the only one that had to buffer. In fact, it took me nearly 1 hour to watch the last 15 minutes of a show because of buffering every 30 seconds. I just wasn't impressed, but was glad I had a 7 day trial.

Apple TV

The last piece of the puzzle for me is Apple TV. Using this device gives me the ability to rent movies and TV shows, for a reasonable price, on demand. I can also connect my own content to one my Mac's, and stream content through the TV. Big win in my mind. This product will only get better, including giving me the ability to stream content to my iPad or iPhone. Very cool.

One service I tried was Amazon Video on Demand, but the cost was too high, and I didn't want to buy content, just rent it. Average price for an HD show as $3 or more. I think between Netflix, the Web, over the air Digital TV, and Apple TV, I should just about be able to cut the bloat of Cable/Satellite, and put my money into content I want to watch instead of paying for content I will never watch.

One final thought, and that is sports. I'm not a huge sports fan, except for NASCAR and College football. I can watch most of the college sports on local channels, and possibly ESPN3 (which I'll write about later as I take time to explore it more). NASCAR doesn't have a streaming system, yet. I really want them too get on board with that. I need to check and see what is available for mobile consumption, but I'm looking for whats on TV.

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My Wife Rocked Dinner

I am so blessed to have a wife who cares enough to fix a five star meal.

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Thanksgiving 2010 Photos

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The Windows Phone 7 Land Rush

Windows Phone 7 is about to hit the streets, and there is a lot of buzz being generated. My first impression of the phones are so-so. Nothing to write home about. The device is simple, and according to Steve Balmer's keynote address at PDC2010, Microsoft wanted to put the most important features front and center on the main screen.

Microsoft is late to the mobile party as it were. Apple owns a commanding lead in the smart phone arena, with Android and BlackBerry having large user bases. But Windows hasn't had a game competing device or OS until now. If Microsoft does this right, and doesn't strong arm developers as much as Apple does, the Windows Phone 7 app store could be the piece that makes this phone a winner.

Application Stores like iTunes, have given Apple the leverage it needs to remain strong and keep their lead. With over the top developer agreements, and total control over the hardware and software, they also control the experience. Microsoft owns the OS, but is allowing other manufactures to build the devices, which isn't necessarily and bad thing, but could be one reason it only achieves mediocre success. If I could wave a magic wand and command the Mobile division at Microsoft, that's what I would do. Users may kick and scream, but taking a queue from Apple, so what. The experience is second to none.

The application space for the Windows Phone 7 could be a land rush. And with the shear number of developers who write software for the Windows platform, and so have a good understanding of the language used to write applications for WP7, I would expect see the volume of apps built and sold in the WP7 store to dwarf that of Apples iTunes App Store. I could be wrong, but the numbers are in Microsoft's favor.

Microsoft is definitely muscling in on the mobile and cloud space. With the introduction of the Azure platform, and the WP7, Microsoft is finally starting to embrace anywhere computing as it's lead platform.

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Twitter Launches A Client For Windows Phone 7

Twitter released a version of their mobile device client for Windows Phone 7. This version of the client uses a platform and design they call Metro. This application also lets you view your Twitter data through Pivots, described as pages.

From the Twitter blog:

We dug into the platform with a development partner, IdentityMine, who helped us get started creating our application. We used an open source REST API library, Tweet Sharp, as the foundation for our app, and IdentityMine will release some significant improvements back into open source for everyone to use.

Wow, releasing this application back into the community as open source. That will let developers take the code and create their own versions, based off the work Twitter and IdentityMine have already done. Nice to see them ahead of the curve.

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Help Me Support And Raise Awareness Of Mens Health Issues

This Movember I’ve decided to donate my face to raising awareness about cancers that affect men.  My commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of Movember, which I know will generate conversation, controversy and laughter.

I’m doing this because:

• 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in his lifetime


• 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime

This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to support the great work of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG.  To help, you can either:

1. Click this link: http://bit.ly/aQ3j1d and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account


2. Write a check payable to Movember, referencing my name or Registration Number 708368 and mailing it to: Movember, PO Box 2726, Venice, CA 90294-2726

The money raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others, through the world’s most promising prostate cancer research and LIVESTRONG’s programs that support young adults and their families battling and surviving cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit http://us.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs/.

Thank you.

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Getting Your RPG Freak On

Recently Ethan Gisdorf wrote and interesting post on TOR.com about Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks. It's a great post that brings back a lot of memories. At the end of the post he asks a great question:

12. That random guy who introduced you to Tolkien or D&D

How did you first hear about fantasy books? Who gave you your first taste of role-playing games? Who led you into the Mines of Moria—those scary, thrilling dungeons of the teenage mind? In my case, it was my next door neighbor, a kid named JP, who taught me how to play D&D and inculcate a taste for slaying orcs and eating frozen pizza. I would later learn we all need an escape hatch, a place to blow off steam, and an arena to kill the baddie. We emerge into the light of day, victorious, and laden with treasure and, best of all, tales to tell.

For me, it was a Librarian at the Kearns Library. For some reason, the Librarian handed me a box with a new game in it, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, 1st Edition, Starter Edition. In side were two books, some paper and some die. I was excited, mainly because it didn't cost me anything.

I spent the next few weeks reading all the books, and trying to get all the information I could about this awesome new game. Remember, in 1980, we didn't have the Internet to get information. And quiet honestly, I don't remember how we managed to make the game work. But thank goodness for the starter kit, which had a lot all the rules and examples to follow.

I spent the next several years playing D&D with my neighbors EB and WA. Eventually we started buying, painting and playing with miniatures, and ended up live role playing, before LARPing had even been thought of. We created swords out of 2x4's, wrapped in towels or carpet to help reduce the pain of a blow. We wore helmets, and shoulder pads, and what ever else we could think of to keep from killing ourselves.

We all moved on, but I'll never forget the fun times we had exploring the underworld that was Dungeons & Dragons.

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Utah Open Source Conference 2010 Wrap-Up

This year's Utah Open Source Conference was a great event. I'm still amazed this conference can pull off three days, but it some how does just that. I'll admit that on the third day, I'm pretty tired, and my brain is in information overload.

Clint Savage (@herlo) and crew have done an excellent job brining Open Source into the spotlight at least once a year. The conference is open to anyone, and I would really like to see more Enterprises that use Open Source get involved, and I think more Enterprises should send the staff to learn about Open Source alternatives to commercial software. There are a number of OSS products that are just as good if not better than their commercial counterpart. Everything from Office alternatives (OpenOffice.org), to network administration tools, intrusion detection, and photo management.

What is really exceptional is all of the content presented by folks who use the software, and in some cases, wrote the software. You have a mix of industry experts, and passionate users, sharing their experiences, and giving attendees the inside scoop.

I volunteered this year, and helped various presenters with their room needs. It never fails to amaze me the support this conference gets. Look for it next year, and get involved.

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Five Things I Like About The New Flickr Interface

Flickr recently updated the user interface of the online photo service, which has basically been the same for as long as I can remember. Honestly, I didn't think Yahoo! would even get around to sprucing up Flickr, but they did and here are the five things I like about the new interface:

1. Larger Images
Photo sharing services typically compress or shrink photos you upload to save space, but I really like the bigger cleaner crisper version of the new Flickr interface.

2. Better Navigation
I really like that you can now find all the features in a drop menu right above the images. Before I was always hunting for what I wanted to do.

3. Zoom
There is a handy Zoom button right above the image now, which takes you to a lightbox version, with the ability to see multiple sizes.

4. Improved Thumbnail Slider
In the old version of Flicker, you could only see two thumbnails, previous and next, and it was very clunky. The new thumbnail slider let's you see 5 images, and in fact slides back and forth without reloading the page.

5. Geo Tagging
Geo tagging is all the rage, but I really like being able to see where a picture was taken. Sometimes I want to go see the places people have taken pictures, but without having to email and ask, I can find the location right on the map.

Over all this is a huge upgrade for Flickr. Now, if Yahoo!/Flickr would just step into 2010 and add real social network sharing, they would have a killer service, one that would rival TwitPic or Posterous.

My Flickr photos.

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Fall 2010 Utah Code Camp

September and October are turning out to be a complete geek fest. With the Kynetx Impact Dev Day on 9/18, Utah Code Camp this week 9/25, and of course Utah Open Source Conference 10/7-10/9. Check out the camp schedule here.

I hope to attend these classes:

• Keynote 9:00am - 10:00am Modern Software Development, the State of the Craft -- David Starr


• 10:10am - 11:10am ASP.NET MVC 3 Razor -- Nathan Zaugg


• 11:20am - 12:20pm Internet-Enabled Applications for Windows Phone 7 -- Richard Thomson


• 12:20pm - 1:00pm Social Networking and Building your brand -- Pat Wright


• 1:00pm - 2:00pm What is ALT.NET? -- Craig Berntson


• 2:10pm - 3:10pm WPF MVVM Design Pattern -- Danny Staten


• 3:20pm - 4:20pm MVC and Entity Framework -- James Johnson

This should be a great event. Pat Wright and company do a great job. If you're Microsoft Developer, or want to learn more about Microsoft development tools, this would be a great place to start.

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Kynetx Impact Developer Day

I was fortunate enough to attend a Kynetx Impact Developer Day at the Kynetx World Wide HQ. I just wanted to share a few notes and links, and my over all impression.

First, the Kynetx group did an awesome job. One thing I have a hard time with at developer conferences are speeches and sales pitches. This event was far from that. We walked through code, wrote code, compiled code, deployed code.

I was impressed that the actual API engineers were presenting, demoing and coding. I was even excited that Jessie struggled to get some code to work he was writing on the fly. He's human, it's something programmers deal with a lot, and he handled it gracefully, all the while CEO Stephen Fulling was sitting in the audience. In the end, he got the demo to work, and it was very cool.

Founder and CTO Phil Windley opened with the reason he built what eventually became the Kynetx platform. He saw an opportunity to program the web. He saw the increase in available API's, and the ease in which data from various points on the web, and user initiated events, could be used to enhance the experience. Read more about Kynetx, the KRL language, and even sign up for a free developer account with an easy to use coding IDE.

Lunch was provided, prizes were awarded, and plenty to do, made for an exciting and educational day. In my opinion, if you don't leave an event like this with hundreds of new ideas you weren't really paying attention.

The only part that could have been better was the layout of the space. The tables weren't set up in a way I could use my computer and watch was going on up front. We were sideways, so I was always turning. I eventually gave up because I was more interested and watching what the presenter was doing. Guys, next time put the tables in classroom mode. You would have had plenty of room.

If you have a chance to attend an Impact Developer Day in your community I would do it. It's worth it.

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The Best Part About iOS 4.2

Apparently the best part of Apples iOS 4.2 software for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch will be AirPrint. I can see this is a much welcomed feature for the iPad, but not so much for the iPhone/Touch. Other features such as access to the Game Center, multi tasking and a new ad service.

This new release will take me further and further away from the latest iPhone offering. My 3G is at it's limit. Time to upgrade to ... the Droid!

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A Hard Days Night

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Inside The Redbox

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The Business Of Writing Group

Like most writers, I want to spend more time writing, and focus on building a long term writing career, but I know just writing isn't enough. There is a business to writing. And if this part is ignored your successes will be limited. Off the top of my head I can think of marketing, selling, social network interactions, accounting, contracts, and negotiations. Writing something only get's you part of the way there.

The last few writing conferences I've attended have all been about the act of writing. I don't know if this is planned, or just coincidence. But I have to think the hundreds of people attending these conferences have no clearly defined plan for building a business writing. Why aren't there any panels or presentations on the business of writing? I'm creating an outline for this exact panel, and I'll pitch it to a few conferences. Must eat my own dog food. And I have a lot of great ideas to share.

Here is the kind of group I want to start or participate in. One that's not about writing, but the business of writing. The legal and technical aspects of writing. The things that will help me build a good writing business. I don't think you should have to do this alone. There are so many resources out there, but a group of people with the same interests and goals have tremendous value. Not to mention meeting other writers, and learn from their experiences.

For example, when negotiating with an agent or publisher, what are the top things you should be concerned with. Beyond money, what are authors typically offered or expected to do? What should an author expect f the agent or publisher? Pitch sessions.

I guess since it's my idea I should do more research on the subject. Find out who would be interested in participating, and more importantly sharing their insights. Once I have enough interest I will push for a public meetup for all writers to confabs learn.

Maybe there is already a group like this in my city. I just haven't found it yet. But if there is I'm looking for you.

Posting this via e-mail from Barnes and Noble.

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WordPress 3.1 Has A Feature List

Last week the development team for WordPress came up with a list of features/bug fixes they want to include in 3.1. As with all software, the end result may differ from this list. Check it out here.

Two things I'm excited about, and really hope are implemented, is a new multi site Admin, and a configurable Dashboard. This is kind of interesting, because at WordCamp Utah 2010, Matt Mullenweg asked Adam Dunford, "if you had a magic wand, what would you change in WordPress?" His response was a cleaner, configurable dashboard. Spot on Adam.

Looks like the WP team is shooting for a mid December release, with a feature freeze in mid October. That's not too far off.

If you haven't already upgraded to WordPress 3, you should do it soon. This is a fantastic release, seems to be very stable, and the further you fall behind the more problems you will encounter.

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Why iTunes Ping Will Suffer Like Google Wave

There are a few reason I think iTunes Ping will, in the long run, fail. I realize the service has only been available for a few days, but I can already see it has the same problem Google Wave had when it was released. It's not part of everyones workflow.

For one, you must have iTunes, not everyone uses iTunes. Until there is some type of web interface that allows you to connect with other, this will be a huge barrier. Two, iTunes must be running to even interact with your followers, share music taste, and invite others. Invitation? A service such as Like.fm or Blip.fm allow me to share my music tastes with anyone, regardless of the platform they are on. And that's where Ping will fail. I could be wrong, and Apple could choose to make major changes to the service, making something usable and accessible by everyone.

I would love to see Amazon come up with something open and web based to compete. Amazon could compete on several fronts, music of course, but also books, games, movies, electronics. That maybe on the roadmap for Apple, but you have to hit some type of home run out of the gate, or you suffer like Wave has.

While I hate to be a nay sayer, I don't think the Apple engineers thought this through for a first rev. Does it seem like that is becoming a reoccurring theme from Cupertino?

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Join Me For #devchat On Twitter

I started a Twitter chat called #devchat, all about the software development business. Right now the time is every Wednesday at 7PM MST. Everyone is welcome, but I'm hoping this will be a very technical discussion. A little background on Twitter Chats here.

Please follow the Twitter user @dev_chat, and use http://TweetChat.com to follow #devchat. No need to register, but you can find more information here.

Please Tweet this, blog about it, post to Facebook, or any other resource you use to communicate with other devs. You can also follow me on Twitter by clicking the Twitter icon in the sidebar at the top.

See you on Wednesday, September 2nd, at 7PM MST.

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Photos From WordCamp Utah 2010

The Will it blend? guy struggled to blend up a WordPress mug, but made short order of a USB drive.

I also had the best iPad and iPen, going old school.

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Timpanogos Cave Hike

This morning I hiked up to the opening of Timpanogos cave with Gina, Jess, Vickie and Larry. First time for me, and man did it kick my butt. I'll do it again, probably several more times. I really want to take more pictures. I was so exhausted I didn't really care. I did take a few though, below.

[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]

Here is a link about the cave, the hike, and the area. http://bit.ly/bpuqbj

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Why Microsoft Shouldn't Aim At Google Or Apple

I read this Wired article today, and I had too cringe hearing Microsoft is taking aim at Google and Apple. Why would they want too? They own such an enormous desktop market, and they could own the mobile space too, but not trying to come at it from the rear. Utilize your existing customer base to build the best mobile experience for Windows users. The reason Android is catching on so quickly, besides the open software and the backing of Google, is it's really the only smart phone alternative to the iPhone at the moment. There are other platforms, but nothing at the level of an Android phone.

I'm not foolish enough to think Microsoft doesn't have a huge gap when it comes to mobile market share. I mean they haven't really put any effort into it for years. But that's what's cool about the opportunity they have. If they want to take something from Apple, take the fact Apple goes to incredible lengths to make the user experience the best on the planet. Whether you think that is egotistical, close minded, or plain and simple snobbery, it doesn't matter. They make products that people like. And Microsoft should focus on the same thing.

I think Microsoft is in the perfect position. I really hope they don't blow it by trying to "be" a bigger better Apple or Google, because they will fail.

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The Jedi Rank Of Community Manager

Most companies would balk at hiring someone to manage "their community", and I can understand the resistance. The question of whether a Community Manager (I'll try and refer to the position as CM from here on out) brings value to a company is long standing, and even harder to answer. My answer is an overwhelming yes, and I think it should be a key position.

More and more people are looking for visibility into a company. Customers expect representatives of a company to be in the same places they are. Customers expect some sort of interaction with questions, issues or concerns, and they expect them pretty quickly. CM's can be a great first line between a company and it's customers.

I've been an admirer of ComcastCares (who has also grown to become a celebrity in his own right) on Twitter, and how the group has grown from a staff of one, to an army of Twitter "agents", helping as many of their customers as they can. The trend is obviously there. Many of the largest companies in the world have CM's, and some times several.

But these Jedi usually do more than answer Twitter questions. I had an opportunity to spend some time with Blue Sky Factory's CM, DJ Waldow, and get a small glimpse of what he does, even for just an hour. A few months ago, DJ sat across from me in a now defunct Co-Working space in Salt Lake City, Utah. He's a rock star. He's smooth. He's fast. He knows his company, his product and his customer. But I've also seen DJ interact with the community, and he definitely shares as much as he can. Who else would offer up assistance at 2AM? DJ will. He just had a baby, so yeah he's probably up on occasion. You can find more on DJ at these digital pads; Blog - Twitter - Blue Sky Factory.

I asked DJ some questions, and he gave some great responses.

Community Management can at times seem like a 24/7 job, what have you done to balance work and life?

Had a baby. Just kidding. Actually, not entirely. Being a new dad has helped to shut off and go offline every now and then. I'm not saying that I've figured this out (ask my wife), but it's help focus me during the day a bit. When I pick my daughter up from daycare, I do my best to make it family time. The same goes for weekends and evenings - that's my time with my wife and daughter. Don't get me wrong, I have an iPhone so I'm able to "check in" every so often. Also, I don't have the typical 9-5 job. Some days, I'm up and rolling with my first cup of french press coffee before 6AM. Other days, I burn the candle late into the evening. Either way, most days are blend of personal and professional. That's a key to this gig as much of what I do on a personal level helps with my job as the Director of Community at Blue Sky Factory. Much of community management is about building relationships, connecting people, engaging with fans, critics, prospects, clients, and evangelists.

I see a lot of high tech companies with Community Managers, is this a role only for high tech, or can just about any company use a Community Manager?

A community manager can help any organization, not just high tech. I think of this role as the voice and face of the organization. It's PR, Marketing, Sales, Support, Client Services, Business Development - you name it. Those teams exist in nearly every company, not just in the tech sector. That being said, not every organization needs a community manager - just like social media is not necessary for every company (http://socialbutterflyguy.com/2009/12/16/social-media-is-not-necessary/).

I know you do interact on Twitter a lot, where else do you interact with your companies community? Which do you find is the most critical?

I spend quite a bit of time on blogs - writing for both the Blue Sky Factory blog (http://blog.blueskyfactory.com/) and commenting on other blogs. I also use Facebook to post and have conversations with our community. Finally, LinkedIn is becoming a more integral piece. The group discussions and LinkedIn Answers provide some good dialogue. Most critical? I find that Twitter still gets the most bang for the buck when it comes to generating new business.

CM's have been around for a long time, but were typically volunteers who loved a product or service, and wanted to help improve it, and help others get the most for their money. The role of advocate has dramatically changed. The CM is called on to interact the customers on multiple levels, create more opportunity for product or service introduction, and build an even larger army of advocates. You will also find a good CM utilized internally, communicating with all departments, and helping shape the direction of the company based on true customer feedback.

Personally, I think CM's add enormous value to any company, especially if the focus and direction are parallel to the companies vision and goals. The goal should be more customers buying more products or services, right? It's hard to be the one running the company, building the product or service, and being the sole CM. It's a very important job that should have a dedicated resource. I know many of you will try and manage on your own, and that's very admirable, but you won't see any significant change until it becomes someones sole focus.

Have you interacted with a Community Manager? What was your experience? If you are a Community Manager, share some of your successes, and trials.

I'm going to follow up with some additional posts on this subject. When someone asks me what I want to do after my current career comes to an end, I'm going to tell them I want to be a Community Manager.

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iOS4 Makes My iPhone 3G Virtually Useless

Since upgrading to iOS4 on my iPhone 3G, I've had nothing but problems. And I'm not alone. Complaints from 3G owners have flooded blog posts, Twitter and Facebook streams, and even news outlets are reporting on the problems.

I'm usually one who stays on the edge of technology, but mobile devices are a little different. For me, the cost of upgrading my iPhone has been dependent on my contract with AT&T. Every time you extend your contract you lose options, or those options become more expensive.

But back to the phone issue. As it stands right now, very few of my applications are stable with iOS4. Especial those that use a lot of memory or network services. I don't fully blame the app developers because I think this is an incompatibility with the OS and the phone. I'm sure there are some apps that aren't quite compatible with iOS4, but the apps I'm having problems with are ones have recently been updated, and should be functioning correctly.

This lack of compatibility really drives me crazy. As Scott Lemon stated today, Apple is putting money above quality, similar to Toyota, who put money before quality, and now it has come back to bite both companies.

I like my iPhone, it has changed the way I consume information and communicate. I want to continue using my iPhone, but the complete system failures are very frustrating.

Reviewing options.

[Update] Before I even posted this, my iPhone has crashed, not recognized by iTunes, and I am now restoring from a backup. Incredible.

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Stanford Engineering School Sheds It's Library Books

A couple of days ago I wrote how I thought Libraries should adopt the Netflix model, down size the number of facilities and make as many resources digital as possible. Today, Laura Sydell writes a story for NPR on how Stanford Universities Engineering school library has 85% less materials on it's shelf than it did in 2005. While it's not a large library, they are still seeing the value in making their materials digital. It's not mass acceptance, but it is a start. And the fact it's coming from a school, where the reliance on printed book dates back to the beginning of education, it makes the most sense for these libraries to be models for public facilities.

Thanks to @canyonsdave for sharing the link on Twitter.

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Tweet Chats Cast A Wider Twitter Net

I've been a Twitter user for a few years now, and I have seen the service morph from a conversation tool to an advertising marketing tool. At first it was "What are you doing?" to "Hey, look at what I've done!". I enjoy and sometimes even appreciate links to articles, news items, even events, but the platform isn't the same one I used to love.

There seems to be a movement right now (and maybe has been for a while, I just didn't notice), but Twitter users are starting to host what are known as Twitter Chats, based on a hash tag and topic. Here is how a Twitter Chat basically works. Tweet often carry a hash tag like #blogchat, or some other keyword to describe the Tweet. When a hash tag is clicked, most Twitter clients will create a search based on that hash tag, giving you a view of Tweets that only carry that tag. Fine tuning the stream you are viewing means you can focus on the "Chat" and exclude you complete stream.

Example of what a chat column looks like in Hootsuite:

Most of these Chats have scheduled times, hosts, topics, and even web sites dedicated strictly to the hash tag. I follow several, mostly about writing, and a very cool tag #blogchat. I'm looking for more, and would love any recommendations. Here are the ones I'm following at the moment, and have a column dedicated to the tag in my Hootsuite application.

#blogchat
#writechat
#scifichat
#scribechat
#storycraft

There's a few draw backs to Twitter Chats. One is the increased number of Tweets in your stream that most of your connections don't want to read. The second is Tweet Chats move fast, several thousand Tweets are generated during a chat, and you need to refresh your tool to see all the new Tweets. It's hard to stay involved in a single conversation for too long, and I tend to miss a good number of Tweets and or questions.

My advise is to watch a Twitter Chat a few times. See what people are asking, how they respond, and who is participating. Then jump in. There is no right or wrong way, only that you make sure the Chat tag is included somewhere in your Tweets.

If you use a tools like Hootsuite, or TweetDeck, you can create dedicated columns to follow a topic. You can also use a cool web application like TweetChat.com. This application creates a stream that auto refreshes every few seconds.

Tweet Chats have helped me get excited about Twitter again. I'm connecting with more people, having relevant conversations, and learning more than I have in a long time. Happy Tweeting!

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Library Systems Need To Adopt The Netflix Model

Last week I read an article from a Twitter link (thanks Zach), about Libraries being a waste. I've been thinking about that statement for a few days now, and I must admit I agree. Most library systems are antiquated and cost more to run than they are worth. It's time for an overhaul.

I've been a library user all my life. There are incredible resources available, but the simple fact is most people have no idea what's there. Libraries aren't just books anymore. You can find everything from Music CD's to your local newspapers. More and more libraries are offering digital content, consumable on devices like the iPod or MP3 player. Libraries also offer access to large research databases, this was a surprise to me, and I've used this service on many occasions.

But let's get down to the reality of how most people are using the library these days. Internet access and free video rental (an un-scientific observation). I visited three facilities this week, and at each one, there were more people using the computers, with it's free Internet access, than were looking for books. I casually walked around glancing at what people were doing, and most were using Facebook, or email, or doing some sort of Internet search.

The next largest congregation of people were in movie and music sections. And as sad as it was to see, very few people were looking at books, except in the books on tape/cd. Here is what I think Cities and Counties should do with their libraries.

Go 100% Digital or Deliver
Almost every book that is published also has a digital counterpart. Libraries could save enormous amounts of money by investing in digital assets rather than paper books. Have you looked at some of the technology books on the shelves lately? I've seen books that help someone use Windows ME. What the? While literary books are timeless, the shelves are filled with many books that become irrelevant in a short amount of time. But the libraries insist on leaving them to take up space. Wasted space.

Another benefit to digital is no replacement costs. If a CD/DVD is broken, you have to buy another copy. If a book is torn, or lost, again, you have to buy another copy. Don't get me started on VHS movies in libraries. Who has a VHS machine? The cost of buying and replacing VHS movies is another cost libraries can do without.

If a library really wants to provide physical books, ones you can't get a digital version for, I say offer to ship the book to a patron. They could even charge a fee for shipping the book, or turn one of the now vacant libraries into a distribution hub, or a drop/off pickup point. Force everyone to check out books through the Internet, solving the problem of spending money to be an Internet Cafe, and a stale book shelf.

Partner With Content Service Providers
Rather than keep old VHS or even old DVD's around, partner with a Netflix type of service to offer disk checkout. The cost can't be much more than paying for hundreds of copies of the same movie. Plus you get the added benefit of the partner managing the distribution. Win! Now patrons can check out Blu-ray disks, and I'm not sure if libraries are even offering Blu-ray movies at the moment. Again, a sign that libraries are falling behind in providing relevant and timely content to the people who pay to keep it running.

As a tax payer, in my City anyway, I think libraries are a wast of money. I would rather check stuff out online, get digital versions, or have something shipped to me rather than spend time running around the library building. Managing workers at the library is another discussion, but I see a lot of librarians, is that the technical term still, sitting behind a counter, usually on the Internet, and waiting for someone to walk up and ask for help. How about being proactive? OK, my intent isn't to harass the library staff, but their salaries are part of the overall cost of running a library.

Take a page from the Amazon and Netflix book. Streamline the process of delivering content and medium to your patrons.

Photo courtesy of boltron

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LaunchUp #9 Was A Success

Local entrepreneur and Doba.com executive Jeremy Hanks put on LaunchUp #9. If you don't know what LaunchUp is, it's basically an opportunity for bootstrap early stage companies to give a 7 minute overview of their product or service, then tell the audience what they need to move forward. I've attended past events and I can tell you that Jeremy is in the groove. The timing is on, the presentations are sharp, and he has had some great sponsors.

Tonight we heard from three companies; RawData, O-Codes and Pixelture.

RawData
This company is very complex, at least from my point of view. The gist is they track consumers uses and movements between different types of media (?). I say complex because the amount of data they collect is enormous, and will only grow in size. I love the concept, especially from an advertiser perspective, or someone looking to track demographic behavior on one or more types of media. I need to do more research on this technology, seven minutes just isn't enough time to learn more. http://www.therawdata.com/

O-Codes
The technology created by this company is pretty cool. While the staggering number of people on Facebook and the Internet in general, there are still just as many that consume print media as a form of entertainment or news. O-Codes has come up with a product that will allow companies to place codes on a marketing piece or ad, which a consumer can send via text message (because everyone has text messaging, right?), and in return are sent links and additional information for the product code.

The possibilities are endless here. I like the bridging of non-digital and digital marketing. This type of service doesn't require an expensive smart phone (although without a smart device, you can't really do much), and covers the largest portion of the market (IMHO). I'm looking forward to see how O-Codes grows. http://www.o-codes.com/

Pixelture
The concept of the product from this company was hard to grasp as first. I wasn't real sure what the product was, or the pain they were trying to solve. But near the end of the presentation it finally clicked. I'm not sure I can do it justice, so please visit the web site for more detail information. Basically, Pixelture provides two pieces of software, a client for computer and mobile devices, and a server component. The software allows you to broadcast a screen to multiple devices, almost like a desktop share.

For example, if I was an instructor, I could share my screen with all the students in my class, or I could give students the ability to share their desktop for class room discussion. The service has a much broader application than education, but it seemed the best for the example.

I can see value for this service at large conferences. What if I was out in the hall because I was tired of sitting in the hard chairs, now I can see what the presenter is sharing and participate in the presentation. What about an art gallery that wanted to share pieces of art not on the wall, but you could see on your device from a rotating powerpoint or image slide show. http://www.pixelture.com/

One of the things I like about going to LaunchUp is learning about new companies here in Utah. There are some really cool things going on. I also love the opportunity to network and meet other people interested in building great companies.

Thanks to Jeremy Hanks and all his supporters for making LaunchUp such a great event.

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Following Mashable’s Advice On Marketing Your Small Business With No Budget

 

The steps in this post are pretty simple, no rocket science here. But, for giggles, I wanted to see how I stacked up against their HOW TO.

There are five pieces of advice given in the article; Become an Expert, Cultivate Super Users, Ensure People Can Find You on the Web, and Offer Ad-Funded Payment Options.

Become an Expert

This may be a good time to answer the frequently asked question about “What do you do?” The short answer is I build software. The long answer is, I’ve been in the technology industry for over 20 years. I’ve worked for large companies, and I’ve worked for boot strap startups. I have filled many different roles, and have a love hate relationship with many of them.

I can say I’m an expert in my field, and I know I can do a better job showing you. The article uses YouTube as an example of a place to show off your talents, and I have to agree. I don’t use YouTube in that manner, but I am going to try and make an effort to utilize it more. I can also stand to do more blogging. Services like Twitter and Facebook have pulled me away from blogging. So it’s my own fault.

You can always learn more here.

Cultivate Super Users

OK, so this piece of advice works well if you have a product, but what if you’re a freelancer? What if you don’t have a tangible product that others can gloat about?

I understand the person when a project is completed to a clients satisfaction they will be happy and tell a few people, but it’s nothing like a few million people gushing about your cool service or widget.

I’m trying to change that by doing less freelancing and more product development. Software and Information products. Something I can offer customers, which will allow me to cultivate super users.

Ensure People Can Find You on the Web

This isn’t a problem for me. Google my name or company and you’ll be directed to the right resource. Since I run a virtual company, I have no physical address. Maybe that is a con for freelancers?

Offer Ad-Funded Payment Options

Again, this is really a benefit for a company offering a product. I’m also not keen on this “buy something from someone else and get my widget for free”. I want to think my products have more value than that. Besides, I don’t have the marketing channel in place to manage this.

Wrap Up

Of all the advice this article lays out, the one thing of value to me was the Become an Expert, which isn’t really something earth shattering or new, it’s just a reality check.

There has to be something better than this. A good solid plan. Share with us your budget mindful marketing ideas.

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SMCSLC WordPress 3.0 Presentation Slides

Here are the slides I used in my WordPress 3.0 presentation last night for the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City (SMCSLC).

It was a great event, the audience was great, the other presenters (Dan Garfield @todaywasawesome) and panelists (Jake Spurlock @whyisjake) were awesome. It was a good WordPress night.

Thanks to Darin 'Doc' Berntson (@igobydoc) for putting the event together to coincide with the Eye Care for Kids charity concert after the club meeting. Doc really spends a lot of time promoting and supporting the charity. Take a few minutes to check it out.

View more presentations from Thom Allen.

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Cool Flickr Photos

I’ve been a Flickr member for several years, and have posted several thousand pictures during that time. Here are the top five photos and what they meant at the time I took them.

1. Ductster PDA. So far this photo has been viewed 3053 times. I took this very crappy photo of a note holder made of duct tape. Taken with a Windows Mobile phone. Very popular during my Hipster and DIY Getting Things Done phase.

2. Worlds Largest Diet Coke Can. So far this photo has been viewed 1521 times. I took this photo on a vacation trip to Yellowstone. I honestly can’t remember where it was taken, but I do know it was a gas station off the highway somewhere in Idaho I think. I’m a big Diet Coke fan, and thought this was the coolest picture.

3. 38 Special – Special Forces. So far this photo has been viewed 1420 times. It’s really a snap of album art. I love album art. It’s mostly a dead practice. Most artists today paste their picture on the front and call it good. A lot of musicians drew and painted their own album covers. It has a personal connection to the music.

4. Stewart-Haas Racing Logo. So far this photo has been viewed 851 times. This was a screen shot of the new Tony Stewart NASCAR racing team logo. I’m a huge fan of Tony, and I thought this was a great logo. I hope I never get in trouble for posting it.

5. Just A Geek. So far this photo has been viewed 453 times. I’m a big Wil Wheaton fan. I took a pic of his book after I got it from Amazon. It was a great book, and you should get a copy. He has several other great books. Wish there would have been a spin off of his Star Trek character Wes Crusher.

One picture that I really like is the one I took with Brandon Sanderson. Brandon is a Fantasy author who lives in Utah. He is also the author asked to finish Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. This photo was taken after I interviewed Brandon (along with Jeff Norris, for iscifi.tv) at Life, the Universe & Everything writers symposium at BYU.

There you go, just a random post about some photos I’ve taken. Please head over to my Flickr page and see the rest. Let me know what you think.

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BuddyPress And The Missing Admin Bar: Solved!

I’ve been working on a few BuddyPress projects lately, using custom themes. Actually, I’ve used a great new plug-in, BuddyPress Template Pack by Andy Peatling to help with custom themes. While this great plug-in got me down the road (it basically turns your existing theme into a BuddyPress compatible theme), there were a few things missing. I wanted to share one I solved, and how.

Once I installed the theme and started working on it, I noticed that there was white space at the top of all my pages, enough room for the BuddyPress admin bar. So I knew it had something to be missing code that wasn’t displaying the admin bar. A quick search on the BuddyPress forum site and I found the solution: Make sure the wp_footer() reference is in your template file.

My theme needed a reference to wp_footer(). There was a reference to get_footer(), but that doesn’t help the admin bar. Once I added the reference, the bar shows up as desired. I call this code snippet in the custom theme where the footer should appear.

<?php
function custom_footer() { ?>
    <div id="custom_footer" class="accentBorders">Copyright &#169; 2010 All Rights Reserved.</div>
<?php
    wp_footer();
}
?>

Find more BuddyPress goodness at http://buddypress.org/support/topics/.

By the way, BuddyPress is a set of plug-ins that give your WordPress site the ability to create a community.

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New For PodCampSLC 2010

Today, PodCampSLC is excited to announce to new additions. Here are the new things happening with the event:

• New web site. Thanks to CrowdVine, we now have a new website for PodCampSLC. This site incorporates many of the social networking features you have grown to appreciate.


• New sponsors on board: PressDev, Mozy.com, eBay, Neumont University and SLUG Magazine. Please take some time to visit these companies, and we really appreciate the support.


• The schedule is really starting to come together. We are covering everything from audio and video recording, live streaming, social media, and a lot more.


• Phil Windley has agreed to hold the March CTO breakfast just before PodCamp.

Again, I really want to thank Tony and team at CrowdVine for the new site. We are working very closely with them to resolve any problems that may come up, so please be patient.

Please visit the new site and register today.

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YouTube Video Marcus Miller – Burning Down The House

YouTube Video Marcus Miller - Burning Down The House

One of my favorite Bass players.

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Google To Stop Supporting Older Browsers

I just got an email from Google stating that starting March 1st, their web applications will no longer support older browsers, instead, pushing the new HTML5 standard. Here is what they said;

In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology.  This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5.  As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 ​as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.

Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser

I applaud this. As a web developer, trying to create sites that work with a dozen web browsers is nearly impossible. I hope more companies take this stance, and help push new technology along. Google has a strong enough presence with their own applications (i.e. GMail and Docs), that they can control what browsers they will support and which they won't. Here's hoping others will follow.

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In Search Of The Ultimate Mobile Developer Machine

Here we go, please take a ride with me as I search out the ultimate mobile developer machine. Why mobile? Because I hate being tied to a desk. I have desk top machines, but I want something with equal power I can take with me. Here is what I am looking for:

Nothing larger than a 15 inch screen. Yes, 15 inches. Any bigger and it's like lugging around a desktop.
At least 8GB of memory. I would love to have the ability to upgrade to 16GB or even 24GB. Memory is a developers best friend. Next to CPU speed, it's the key to all goodness.
A hard drive fast enough to keep up with the RAM. I really like what is happening in solid state drives (SSD).
A CPU, well, let's look at 4, that will allow me to compile in a split second, let me stream video, rip a DVD, all at the same time.
I would love to have built in 3G connectivity, but the more I think about it, the more I would hate to be tied to a specific carrier. So maybe just a USB card will work.
Ability to read just about any memory card. At least 4 super fast USB ports.
Lightweight. This is a mobile machine, remember?

Honestly, that's about it. Nothing spectacular. The real trick here will be to find one that doesn't weight as much as your Mothers Cadilac, and doesn't cost as much as my last Child.

There are really two flavors, an Apple Mac, like a Mac Book Pro, or a PC which can run Windows or Linux. Since I do a lot of Windows development, Linux probably isn't a viable option. And I don't want to own a MBP just so I can run Windows on it. You think the simple choice is to go with a PC. But there is more too it than that. I have to make some additional choices, to make the right choice.

First, will I choose to stop developing Windows applications. Honestly, that's the key question. I can develop everything but Windows applications on a Mac. I know, I know, running Parallels or VMWare Fusion gives me a Windows machine on the Mac, but I don't want to do that. It doesn't work all that well on my iMac, and I know it doesn't do any better on a MBP.

Throw my hat in a ring, and stay there for a while. Honestly, I'm not sure 100% which ring the hat will fall in today. OK, enough of that, off to find The Ultimate Mobile Developer Machine.

What would you recommend?

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My 365 Photo Project For 2010

For the past several years, I've tried a 365 Photo Project. You know, take one photo a day and post it somewhere. I've failed at this endeavor, but vowed to win this year.

The other day someone asked me what I hoped to accomplish with the project. Honestly, I don't really have an agenda other than to take 365 photos of myself with my iPhone, doing something I do in my everyday life.

I guess if I had to choose something, I would see myself getting thinner, you can always see it pictures. So maybe that's one thing I'll take away.

You should be able to see the project here http://bit.ly/5IXWon

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Facebook Pushes Out New iPhone App

A long awaited update to the very popular Facebook iPhone application was pushed out to the App Store today. This new version has several new features which you may or may not like; Push Notifications, and contact syncing.

The contact syncing is a great new feature that pulls data from your Facebook friends, and adds or updates there information in your iPhone Contact app. I like that it includes the photo of the person, because I always forget to take a profile pic when we meet. This new feature also elminates the need for a second app I was using to do a sync.

The other major feature is push notification. The little popup messages that notifying you that of an update on Facebook. There are a couple of issues with push. It's a great way to stay informed, which means I don't have to check Facebook to see what is going on. But the way Push Notification works, it generally requires you to respond to the notification before you can do anything to the screen under it. This can be annoying if your playing a game, or typing a message. So you'll have to see if push works for you.

This application is so good you could bypass using the web at all. Get it on your iPhone through the App icon, or through iTunes.

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Making Tech Predictions Is Like Riding A Bike With No Seat

I've been reading a lot of posts lately about tech predictions for this year. I even wrote about some technologies to watch. But trying to actually predict what is going to happen is like riding a bike with no seat, one bump and you're done. Predictions are pointless. And even more pointless, are the year end wrap ups to see how well you did. Who gives a crock.

In previous posts, I thought I would be cool and make some predictions, call out some technologies, and get on the band wagon. But I was wrong. Instead of predicting what MIGHT happen, why not contribute and MAKE things happen. I'd love to see even a tenth of the people making predictions actually build something of value.

One thing I always try and do is see things through rose colored glasses. Why not? I don't think I'm being naive, no has ever been hurt by encouragement. Through all the blogging, tweeting, facbooking, youtubing and what ever else is going on, I want to see you actually do something.

Several months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting, and talking with Josh Peters. Our discussion was around sharing our knowledge with other in the form of workshops. Guess what; Josh went out and did it. He created the workshop he envisioned, and it was a success. He also wrote a book on the subject he's passionate about. He also has the coolest tattoo.

You might not know who Jason Alba is (no, he's not related to Jessica, although he might want to be), but this man has been a real mentor to me. We haven't created any formal partnerships, or coaching agreements, but he's shown me how one man, with a passion, and a red hot poker coming towards you at mach ten, can accomplish. He's always questioning me. Asking me why I am doing something, and why am not doing something else. He's made his own path, and I like that about Jason.

I kind of got off track there a little. My point in sharing what Jason and Josh have done, is point out what happens when you actually do something. The only thing I can predict about the tech world is it's ability to be unpredictable. If you're only creating words, stop it. Create something real, it's a lot more challenging and believable.

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FourSquare Finally Makes Sense

If you're on Twitter or Facebook, you've probably seen posts like these "Thom A. @ Sonic (123 Main) at 9:30PM". This interesting app let's users "check-in" at some location, and share that with their online friends. No one should feel left out because they offer an iPhone, Android and BlackBerry version.

At first I didn't get it. Fact is, until this afternoon, I still didn't get it. But then this little message popped up when I checked in at Chick-Fil-A in Sandy, Utah.

After I saw this, it hit me, the untapped value of an application like FourSquare. What a strategic opportunity for businesses or events to push an announcement to the person checking in. Here I am checking in at Chick-Fil-A and I get a note to check out Fudruckers, about 50 feet away. I could possibly have been given a code to use for a discount on a meal.

I'm going to target a few places and see what I can come up with. My first attempt will be to add information on PodCampSLC 2010. If you check in at places around Neumont University, I'm going to suggest you check out the site.

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Podcasting Is A Cinch

A few months ago I started using a great service called Cinch, from BlogTalkRadio. It's really a small footprint mobile podcasting system. But I've found many different uses for Cinch. You can visit my Cinch page here.

You can create audio casts three ways; an iPhone app, your computer, or dial in number. You have to pre-configure your phone number so Cinch recognizes who is recording, and posts right to your account.

I've used Cinch a couple of different ways. One is to record quick notes for myself (sent to a non public folder), as a backup for audio podcasts I'm recording via Skype, and as a quick way to capture podcasts on the go.

Jesse Stay has been using it to record a daily journal. I'm sure there are dozens of unique ways to use Cinch. I would love to know how you are using Cinch.

*Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for writing this post. U simply think Cinch is a great tool and wanted to share.

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Book Review: CrushIt!

Lot's of people have written reviews of CrushIt! by Gary Vaynerchuk. Here is mine.

This is an easy read. What I mean by that is the book is somewhat short, and Gary does a great job of explaining himself and his ideas. this book could have easily been two or three times as big.

If the first chapter was the only one in this book, it would be worth it. Passion. You gotta have it. Without it, there's little point.

If you're a Vayniak, someone who is a a Garyvee fan, you've probably heard a lot of what's in this book. But even so, now you have everything at your fingertips. I also recommend you get the Vook; a digital enhanced version of the book including videos.

I like how he talks about a few tools, but mostly, find what your passion is and talk about it, through audio, video or blogging.

Have you read it? Tell us what you thought.

*Disclaimer: I didn't receive any compensation for this review.

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8 Great Tips On Marketing For The New Year

Today Laura Beulke (@VPG_Printing) on Twitter, zinged out 8 great marketing ideas for the new year. I wanted to share them with you. I'm not a marketing expert, but these are pretty good.

1. Update your image with a new business card
Funny, I just did that a few weeks ago. I added some social links like my Twitter name and LinkedIn profile URL.

2. Send out your new business card to potential clients or customers
This is a great idea. I'm adding it to my marketing plan.

3. Hold a weekly drawing on your blog or website
Hmm, this one may be a challenge. I will have to take some time to thing about what to offer. Maybe partner with another site or company.

4. Refresh your website by adding a special area for first time visitors
Doing this too. Great idea Laura. People are always interested in learning more about you and your company, make sure you have a place to blow your horn.

5. Reward return business
I really need to do this. As I looked back on 2009 that is one area I failed miserably. I really need to treat my customers and partners much better. And I will.

6. Launch a new direct marketing campaign
Since I'm not a marketing guru, I'm not sure how to implement this, or if it's even an avenue for my business. I think it could be, but I need to map it out better.

7. Help your customers with their resolutions
Another great idea. Giving before getting. There will be plenty of karma left over after you have helped others to succeed. My friend Donny Biorge is all about that. I've never met a person who has been so concerned about those around him succeeding. He lives what he preaches.

8. Expand your reach; look for clients in places you didn't think you could find them
This is on my list of things to do for 2010. Try to expand my customer base while streamlining my focus.

These are all great ideas, thank you for sharing them Laura. In full disclosure, I did win a contest Laura had a few months ago. I would have shared these tips in any event.

What are your unique marketing ideas for 2010?

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