The Fearless Blogger » blogging

I Think You Stink

faryl — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:45:42 +0000

I’ll admit it – I’m in a crappy mood.

Maybe it’s my meds. Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe I’m just scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life, the way I feel when I’m with you - ooops! That’s Baby in Dirty Dancing, not me! Got a bit carried away there!

Whatever the reason (I’m sure if I spent another couple of minutes, I could list at least five more), I’m cranky and I’m irritated and am not about to take it out on my cats – and certainly not on you. (I love you! You know that! Right? OK – we’ll talk more bout that later – remind me!)

I’d say it’s possible I got up on the wrong side of the bed – only I still don’t have a friggin bed to sleep in, thanks to a combination of careless movers, poor timing, ADHD-procrastinated paperwork, and just overall shoddy customer service from Priority Moving.

So, I’m in the mood to vent. I’m wanting to share some of the frustration that the random dingbats and doody-heads (you heard me right!) are bringing into my life.

Still, I don’t want to turn my blog into a ranting bitch-fest.

What’s a girl to do?

If that girl is me, she creates another blog to house all her complaints and disappointments. (Or some of them, at least!)

She even convinces herself this is a positive thing – rather than sit and stew, she can get it all out there, off that DDD chest that already weighs her down. Plus, perhaps by publishing these atrocities, I (yeah, switching back to 1st person – I’m crazy that way) can contribute to the googlesphere – so that others don’t repeat the same mistakes.

If I can prevent one tourist from choosing the Mission Valley “Resort”, then it’s all worth it.

Well, not really – it still sucked.

But it does feel a bit therapeutic to publicly declare to each
Truly Nolan, Priority Moving, and The Mission Valley Resort:

I think you stink!!!

Unverified Buzz

faryl — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:39:32 +0000

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi50KlsCBio

In case you haven’t heard, Google recently launched a new social media service called Buzz:

Buzz lets you share updates, photos, links, and pretty much anything else you’d like with your Gmail contacts; it’s an easy way to follow your friends, too.

If Orkut was Google’s version of MySpace, Buzz is Google’s version of Facebook.

Personally, I’ve been getting sick of Facebook’s shifty-ness -- seems like the site’s sporting a new homepage and/or privacy settings more often than Ryan Seacrest touches up his highlights -- so I’m hoping Buzz gets some momentum.

It’s certainly getting its share of attention. Just two days after the launch, Google implemented some “immediate improvements” based on user feedback (mostly around privacy control features).

One thing I haven’t seen addressed is Google’s approach for verified accounts.

When I visit my Google profile page, I’m greeted with a message advising me that the page “is eligible to be featured in Google search results”. This links to a help page on how to make your profile easier to find, including this tip “to help you make your Google profile more useful”:

Verify your name, and get a “Verified” badge on your profile.

If you were me, this is the message you'd get.

Given I have a sink full of dishes waiting to be washed and laundry to do, my natural reaction is to immediately set about getting my name verified. (Seriously, you get a “Verified” badge! How could I resist?)

After clicking through a mere five pages, I arrive at the place where the magic happens. Intuitively (that’s sarcasm, by the way) nestled among the Knol (Remember Knol? Google-flavored wikis?) ”Preferences” resides my “Name Verification” page, where I am presented with two options to complete the verification process (the badge is so close!):

Credit Card
Social Security Number

Nope. Not a Rick Roll.

Really?!

Short of perhaps a picture of me naked and sitting on the toilet, I can’t think of anything I’d feel less inclined to post online than either of those items.

I begin to wonder if perhaps I’ve landed on an archived April Fool’s Day page. After all, it seems far more plausible that the links would lead me to a Rick Astley video, than that Google would actually be requesting that information.

I decide to explore further. (Who says those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves?!)

Turns out it’s true -
The only way to get that Name Verification badge is to fork over details for either your credit card or social security number.

Of course Google assures us that your card is not charged, the information is used for verification purposes only (via a third party), blah blah blah. Comfy? Well, before you pull your wallet out, read through the FAQs -- only certain credit cards will work and Name Verification is only available in the U.S.

Indeed, you don’t have to get your name verified. So unless you have a compelling reason to prove you are who you claim to be, this is far from the end of the world. (Even if you do have a compelling reason, I’m confident you’ll be able to work through this.)

Currently, the feature does not seem to be widely used. Google describes it as “experimental”, explaining they “now downplay the feature in the user-interface”. For those wondering about page rank, the FAQ states:

At the moment, the feature exists solely as one means for you to communicate to your readers that you are who you say you are. At this present time, it does not have a significant effect on ranking.

Does this graph remind you of anything?

Still, I have to believe that this is something Google will need to address sooner or later.

Users are encouraged to update their profiles when getting started with Buzz. Potentially, many are likely seeing the message about having their profile featured in search results. If so, Google may find their efforts to downplay the verification option to be less-than-successful.

Call me cynical, but given the alarmist reaction to Google potentially exposing who’s on your “most e-mailed” list, the current verification options are unlikely to sit well with the average user.

Would you be willing to share your credit card or social security number to get verified?

Does it even matter? Will Buzz lead to an increased need (real or perceived) for Name Verification or will verification remain a “downplayed”, experimental feature?

Since I have dishes to do (so much for them doing themselves -- hmmph), please talk amongst yourselves (i.e., leave a comment)!

Attention (Please)

faryl — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:00:09 +0000

image credit: Sarah Rydgren

While I don’t feel the need to hide my ADHD, I don’t feel the need to hide behind my ADHD either.

This blog is my outlet to share my interests with the hope that others might find them interesting. It’s where I stash my collection of ideas, resources and experiences – an eclectic assortment of things humorous, helpful, and/or enlightening. If I’ve benefited from something, it belongs here to give others the chance to benefit from it too.

I’m not “ADHD GIRL” and this is not “AN ADHD BlOG”, so I’ve never felt compelled to include anything ADHD-related in the collection. At least not until recently.

These days, understanding and managing my ADHD is pretty much a full time job for me. My current priorities revolve around finding the right tools and learning the right skill sets to help me structure my life to allow for my brain’s “quirks”, instead of constantly fighting against them.

As a result, I find myself holding back from adding the majority of my recent ideas, resources and experiences to the others in my collection; since more often than not, they are in some way, shape, or form, related to ADHD. MY ADHD to be specific.

image credit: Lauren Murphy

I’m growing less comfortable with this approach, however.

If The Fearless Blogger is intended to be a reflection of my interests, omitting the chunks related to ADHD twists that reflection into something you’d get from a fun house mirror.

Furthermore, I’m holding back information and experiences that someone else might benefit from – or perhaps even find comfort with.

I’m choosing to change that.

As of today, I’m adding a new flavor to the blog.

My hope is that while it may not be the flavor you were craving when you initially stopped by, you’ll be able to appreciate (or even enjoy) it nonetheless.

image credit: Sarah Macmillan

Zach Braff is (Thankfully) Not Dead (and He Made a Video to Prove It)

faryl — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:30:33 +0000

A Very Alive Zach Braff (from his Facebook page)

In the past few months, rumors of various celebrity deaths have been popping up on the internet. With sites like Facebook and Twitter, these rumors travel far and fast.

The most recent, occurring yesterday, involved two stories about ‘Scrubs’ star Zach Braff.

The first, seemingly posted by a New Zealand news site, stated that

reports from New Zealand Police officials indicate that the actor fell more than 60 feet to his death on the Kauri Cliffs while on-set

In reality, the page was generated by some anti-Zach using FakeAWish.com. (Based on the site’s “In the News’ section, this site has likely been the culprit of several other celebrity death rumors)

The second was a fake CNN page (since removed) which reported the actor’s suicide. Chris Laganella, the site‘s owner posted the following explanation

Wayyy back in 2007, I copied CNN’s webpage and changed some text and some pictures to reflect an apparent Zach Braff suicide. This wasn’t a publicity stunt, it wasn’t a plea for hits, or to promote anything else. It was just to fool some of my friends. We’re really big Scrubs fans and really big Zach Braff fans. I made this page to fool them, called them to my computer, and showed them to get their reaction. I obviously told them it was a joke afterwards, but I neglected to take the page down.

Apparently, something clicked with someone on the internet today. I saw my bandwidth for chrisbox.com ran out earlier, so I increased it and looked at my traffic. I saw all the hits to braff.html, and started researching. This was the second largest trending topic on Twitter along with tons of links on Facebook. I had people like Perez Hilton and even an ABC spokesperson commenting on this.

Laganella continues, apologizing

So let’s just clear some stuff up. I did not make this page to intentionally fool everyone on the internet. I didn’t expect it to even be made public. Ever. I’m sorry if I scared everyone out there.

Zach, sorry if you got offended by me posting a fake suicide about you on the internet. Your 32,000 square foot house would be pretty empty without you. Thanks for (apparently) taking it lightly, since I haven’t gotten a letter about a lawsuit yet. Just so you know, I’m a huge fan; that’s the only reason I made this page, believe it or not. Also, sorry for upsetting your mother :(

Unfortunately for Chris, his apology did not get to Zach Braff before the actor posted a YouTube video.

In the video, Zach assures the world he is, indeed, alive and seems pretty good-natured about the event. However he does make a point to call out Chris for the prank, telling him he’s won Braff’s first “Douche of the Day” award for making Braff’s mom upset.

Free Images for Your Blog: Freebie Images WordPress Plugin

faryl — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:31:23 +0000

from Crestock.com

As a blogger, I’m always happy to find new resources for free/royalty free images. I thought I’d pass this info along to those of you who feel the same:

Crestock.com has released a new WordPress plugin called Freebie Images:

Spice up your blog with professional, high quality, free stock photos & images! With an amazingly simple Drag and Drop interface, blogging has never been this easy!

(The following information is from the Crestock.com blog)

What is it and what does it do?
The Freebie Images Plugin gives you a micro format search interface inside your WordPress Admin where you can search for and add images to your blog post – free of charge. The images are perfectly sized for blogs – between 300px and 400px width.

How does it work?
The plugin uses Crestocks existing search algorithm, so the search results – and images – are the same as on Crestock.com.After doing an image search, youre presented with the search results.

Adding the images to your post couldnt become much easier – when youve found the image you want, simply drag & drop it into your blog post, in the position where you want the image, and thats it.

You also get access to most of the advanced filtering options on Crestock.com with a single click, for example:

Number of images per page
Image Orientation
File type
Pagination

Where can I get it?
The plugin can be downloaded from Freebie Images.com – the Plugin home page.

Please Note
I should caution you that Crestock.com is describing this as a “public beta”. In other words, don’t expect perfection (or in other other words – use at your own risk!). From a quick glance at Crestock.com’s blog post, it looks like people have reported some bugs (it wasn’t clear if they were issues with the plugin or from lack of documentation for proper installation).

I’ve not yet had a chance to give the plugin a try, but will report back once I do. In the meantime, feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.

For More Details
Launching Freebie Images WordPress Plugin | Crestock.com Blog.

Is it Time to Break the Rules?

faryl — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:15:02 +0000

A journalist that wore two hats

In her blog Save the Media , Gina Chen shares 10 ‘Journalism rules’ you can break on your blog.

As an intro to these rules, Gina writes:

there’s a part of me that loves blogging because you’re allowed to break the journalism rules. In fact, I’d argue the best bloggers break them regularly because blogging isn’t a news story; it shouldn’t read like one; it shouldn’t look like one.

At a high level, Gina encourages taking advantage of the dynamic, interactive and community qualities of the web when writing for a blog. I encourage you to view the post to read the list in full – below is a summary of her 10 rules:

Use partial or fake names
Tell part of the story
Insert opinion
Link to a report or news release rather than rewrite it
Link to background rather than repeat it
Link to the enemy
Use second person; heck, use first person
Get personal
Answer your critics or supporters
Fix your mistakes rather than just publish a correction

As newspapers are shutting their doors and mainstream media is hopping onto the social media bandwagon, this will become an increasing relevant issue in the near future. It seems natural that a new set of rules begin to emerge.

Gina’s post and others’ reactions, has me thinking about the increasingly blurred line separating blogging and journalism. Journalism codes of ethics exist to give the public comfort they can trust the information that is published. Is there a danger of a “slippery slope” effect if professional journalists have the option to break the rules at their discretion when wearing the hat of “blogger”?

As new “best practices” and rules emerge, another question arises: Should bloggers then be expected to follow a set of standards?

This is my personal blog. As such, I feel I have the flexibility to choose a style that feels natural to me. As a public communications major with a couple of journalism classes under my belt, I’m at least aware of where and how often I’ve strayed from journalistic standards.

Granted, for a blog about social media, nifty websites and pop-cultural references, my credentials are probably not crucial. My posts don’t hinge on the credibility of my sources. Tendency towards hyperbole, if anything, would just be the absolutely most annoying thing the entire world – make that the universe- has ever seen (ever – in all of history).

What if this were a blog about child safety, nutrition, medical treatment or the stock market? I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say many (if not most) bloggers are not aware of existing journalism rules – and therefore unlikely to follow them. Is there a point where not employing these rules- for instance reporting news on the fly, before all the information is available, or inserting the writer’s opinion (perhaps in a manner designed to sway or influence the reader)- could be considered irresponsible?

As a reader, I think it’s a bit “Pollyannaish” to expect everything that’s written to be objective and entirely true. Certainly the existing standards that apply to conventional media haven’t been effective in ensuring this (for an example, just watch how each FOX News and MSNBC covers the same story). The onus falls on the reader to maintain a healthy sense of skepticism paired with intellectual curiosity to effectively parse out the facts in any story we’re presented. The failure of most readers to do this is not unique to the internet.

As a blogger, I think we each need to take the responsibility to educate ourselves on methods to display credibility to our readers. Ultimately, it’s not whether we’re accountable to a specific set of standards – existing or new. It’s understanding the intent behind the standards. The prevailing intent is behaving ethically and maintaining trust – something I personally strive for, regardless of the existence of any set of rules.

I raised bunch questions in this post – I’m interested in what you think. Please share your thoughts in the comments!

bbPress 1.0 Released

faryl — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:44:18 +0000

bbPress is forum software created by Automatic, the same folks who brought us WordPress. Until recently, it’s development had been relatively slow.

Seems like things are starting to move forward, based on an announcement made in the bbPress.org forum today:

Hi everyone, bbPress 1.0 is moving beyond Alpha stage and skipping Beta to go straight into a series of Release Candidates towards a final 1.0 release. The first RC is now available for download.

We’ve made this decision to push towards 1.0 final as the scope of what was going to be included in 1.0 has been whittled back and we have had some serious real world trials through TalkPress.

I’ve been playing with bbPress for the still-in-progress URLuscious.com, so plan to try out the new upgrade in the next few days and will keep you posted when I have a live version available for folks to check out.

For more on bbPress, visit the site at bbPress.org. Justin Tadlock has also recently posted the first in his series of bbPress-related tutorials on his site.

Technically Challenged People Deserve Blogs Too

faryl — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:27:57 +0000

I’m excited to announce my latest endeavor: URLuscious!
URLuscious is part of my master plan to demystify all things techie-geeky; helping non-techie folks incorporate the web and its social goodness into their lives.

The mission statement:

Make it easy for anyone to quickly and easily have a website or blog that looks great and is easy to maintain – regardless of your creativity, technical knowledge or experience.*

*translation: Websites so easy, even your mother can do it!

Blog-in-a-box
URLuscious’s flagship product is Blog-in-a-box, a service that includes installation, configuration, hosting and user training for a WordPress blog.

Having a blog has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I’ve talked to so many people who would like to have a blog or website of their own, but don’t have the time or technical comfort level to get one started. Others want the benefits of a self-hosted WordPress blog, but feel locked into their current system or don’t know how to make the switch.

My goal is to remove these intimidating and/or frustrating barriers so that anyone can have the rewarding experience I’ve enjoyed.

Sneak Peak and Gift Certificates

The site’s not quite ready (right now “alpha-ish” might be a better description!) – its launch will be in early April. I’m still cleaning up some broken links and adding functionality.

In the meantime, I’m offering a $25 Gift Certificate to the site in exchange for your feedback. If you’re interested, please take a moment fill out this survey after visiting the site.

I’ll be posting news about the launch and offering special “Fearless Blogger discounts” here. You can also follow @URLuscious on Twitter or enter your email below to join the mailing list:

Of course, your feedback is also welcome in the comments!

(URLuscious is powered by Apple and WordPress, and energized by equal parts Justin Timberlake, Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.)

Twitter Connect: Use Your Twitter Logon Credentials to Share your Comments

faryl — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:38:23 +0000

I’ve previously written about Chat Catcher, a plugin for WordPress that “collect” tweets about a blog posting so they can be displayed with the posts comments.

Shannon Whitley, its developer, has another great plugin in the works: Twitter Connect.

Twitter Connect adds a blue button to your blog (pictured above) that visitors can click to use their Twitter credentials to leave a comment. Similar to Facebook Connect, this process tells the blog who you are without you having to share your Twitter password.

It’s brand-spanking new (or else you’d see one of those buttons on my blog by now!) – Shannon just wrote it today.

Shannon based the plugin on the work done by Adam Hupp of Facebook. He writes:

Although this plugin is nowhere near as complex as the Facebook Connect code, it provides the basic login into WordPress and will display avatars with each comment.

You’ll likely be seeing the button on this site sometime soon. In the meantime, head over to Shannon’s blog to try it yourself! Twitter Connect (sort of) | Shannon Whitley.

(Worth noting: In my Chat Catcher post, I mentioned how impressed I was with Shannon’s responsiveness and proactive service approach. I’d like to make a follow up comment here to share that Shannon has continued to maintain that level of service, even as the popularity of his plug-in has grown.)

Friendly Reminder – Back Up Your Website!

faryl — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:45:23 +0000

photo: ebbdog, via Flickr

When was the last time you backed up your website?

Trust me – as I learned yesterday – stuff happens!

It took a chunk of time to troubleshoot, resulting in a site outtage here. But I knew that, worst case scenario, I had the option of reinstalling the blog from a recent backup. And, as it turned out, I ended up using that option.

So, learn from my (almost) mistake and take a few minutes today to back up your website. Better yet, set up regularly scheduled backups while you’re at it!

If you use WordPress, check out the WordPress Database Backup plugin (it’s what I use).

What backup solutions do you recommend?

The Fearless Blogger » blogging

I Think You Stink

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