7/29/2009
Twitter Client for the C64 [video]
Get ready for some 1980's computing to meet Web 2.0. A guy named Johan Van den Brande has made a Twitter client for Commodore 64 (C64).The C64 was first introduced by Commodore in August 1982. It was a revolutionary computer and boosted the best graphics and sound capabilities of its time. The C64 had 64KB of RAM, a 985Khz processor and could display screen resolutions as high as 320×256. Compared to computers today, the processing power in your bedroom alarm clock could dance circles around the C64.
You don't see too many Commodore computers these days. After 25 years, most people have either thrown them away or they are buried in an attic or garage. So if you want to try using Breadbox, your best bet will probably be to install a C64 emulator on your Mac or PC. We have a methodshop.com tutorial that will walk you through the installation of a C64 emulator if you are interested.
In the video below, Johan Van den Brande shows off his Breadbox software and loads a screen from Twitter. Skip to 2:45 if you don't want to see the camera setup and the application loading from diskette.
If you're curious, Johan posted a more technical description on his website.
"It's a Commodore 128D running in C64 mode. All Commodore 128 and 128D systems could either run in C128, CP/M or C64 mode, so it's like having 3 computers in one. This isn't emulation as the C128 has the same core hardware as a C64. Whether you're running in 128 or 64 mode is just a matter of how fast the 8502 CPU is running, which ROM is active, and whether you have 128K or 64K of RAM available."
After watching the video you may be scratching your head wondering why someone would even bother making a C64 Twitter client. It's all just nerdy thrills ladies.
If you're still not sure what all this Twitter talk is all about, then this article might help: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma.
methodshop
Labels: games, social networking, tech news, tutorial
7/15/2009
TwittARound [video]
Imagine being at an outdoor event or concert and being able to see what people were tweeting about all around you. That's the concept behind TwittARound.TwittARound is an augmented reality Twitter viewer for the iPhone. It shows live tweets around your location on the horizon. Because of video see-through effect you see where the tweet comes from and how far it is away. TwittARound is still in beta, but it looks pretty interesting.
Still not sure what this "Twitter" thing is all about? This methodshop.com tutorial might shed some light on your dilemma.
Tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma
methodshop
Labels: social networking, video
7/13/2009
British Royal Family Joins Twitter
Buckingham Palace announced last Friday that the royals now have their own Twitter account @BritishMonarchy. The purpose of the account is to inform royal watchers of what the family is up to on a daily basis. Don't expect Her Majesty to tweet or to get any dirt or juicy information from the account. A palace spokeswoman says the account won't be used to air personal opinions.Joining Twitter isn't the first time the royals have extended their kingdom into cyberspace. Buckingham Palace's website launched in 1997 and the Queen also has her own YouTube channel.
methodshop
Labels: social networking, tech news
7/08/2009
United Airlines Breaks Guitars [video]
In the spring of 2008, musician Dave Carroll and other passengers watched from the plane as clutzy United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago broke his $3500 Taylor acoustic guitar on the tarmac.
After the incident, Carroll contacted the airline to ask for compensation. For the next few months, Carroll was given the runaround until United Airlines finally said they wouldn't pay for the damages. Before hanging up the phone for the last time with United Airlines, Carroll made a promise.
"I promised the last person [from United Airlines] to finally say no to compensation, Ms. Irlweg, that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world," Carroll said on his website.
It's been almost a year since Carroll's Taylor guitar was smashed on the tarmac, but he's finally making good on his promise. This week, Carroll uploaded a song he recorded with his band Sons of Maxwell to YouTube. It's called "United Breaks Guitars."
Here are a few lyrics from the chorus:
United, United
You broke my Taylor guitar
United, United
Some big help you are
You broke it, you should fix it
You're liable just admit it
I should have flown with someone else or gone by car
'Cause United breaks guitars
Unfortunately for United Airlines, the music video and the story behind it has caught the attention of the Internets. "United Breaks Guitars" is currently the top link on Reddit.com and Carroll's song has prompted an onslaught of negative comments about United Airlines across the Internet from Twitter to YouTube. Our favorite so far is "Revenge is a dish best served with country accompaniment."
Doesn't United Airlines know that the customer is always right? The amount of money and time United Airlines will have to spend dealing with this PR nightmare will far exceed $3500.
methodshop
Labels: music, social networking, video
7/01/2009
Internet Temporarily Crippled By Michael Jackson Mourners
The sudden death of the King of Pop last week was both a curse and blessing for many websites and social networking services. According to Akamai's news net usage index, traffic to news sites increased an average of 20%, but the increased traffic caused server outages everywhere.Even the mighty Google wasn't immune to traffic surge issues. At one point last Thursday, Google News had to temporarily block all "Michael Jackson" search requests. Google's systems incorrectly thought they were under a "denial of service" attack meant to crash their servers.
Google was able to stay online by adding the temporary block, but other sites, including Jackson's official website and London's O2 concert venue, where Jackson was set to kick off his 50-date come back tour next month, weren't so lucky.
Wikipedia administrators also had to take protective measures. Michael Jackson's Wikipedia page had to be locked down after users accessed it over 1 million times in less than an hour.
And let's not forget Twitter. The social networking site's activity almost tripled as millions of users tweeted real time information of Jackson's arrival at the hospital, rumors of a coma and eventually confirmation of his death. As a result of all the extra traffic, Twitter's Fail Whale error page made multiple unwanted cameos on Thursday and Friday.
Online retailers were the lucky ones. Their servers weren't bombarded with curious people looking for information, but by mourners looking to remember Jackson and purchase some of his music. As news of Jacko's death spread, sales of his music on iTunes and Amazon.com skyrocketed. Currently 6 of the top 10 selling songs on iTunes are Jackson's.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
6/23/2009
Surving the Twitpocalypse
Where were you during the Twitpocalypse? On June 12, 2009 at 23:52:04 GMT, the number of Twitter status updates exceeded 2,147,483,6471, the limit for 32-bit signed integers. This caused many 3rd party Twitter apps to break or start malfunctioning. The developers at WhereCloud even setup Twitpocalypse.com to help track the impending doom many Twitter applications were facing.
June 12th came and went. So what happened? Was the Twitpocalypse over hyped like the Y2K bug? Actually, a lot of Twitter applications did indeed crash and burn. You can track the aftermath of the Twitpocalypse and the current status of your favorite app on Twitter using the #Twitpocalypse hash tag.
The good news is, the world didn't end and the Twittersphere lives on... it's just slightly more buggy. As it says on Twitpocalypse.com, "The tweets must flow"!
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
6/22/2009
The Story (so far) of Twitter [pic]
Twitter is everywhere these days (even on fire safety posters). But where did it all begin? How did Twitter co-founders Biz, Evan, and Jack all meet? You could of course go read the Wikipedia page for Twitter. But why read when you can look at pretty pictures? Manolith.com has a wonderful "infographic" showing the history of Twitter in picture form.PIC: The Story (so far) of Twitter
methodshop
Labels: social networking
6/19/2009
In case of fire, do NOT use Twitter [pic]
Everyone from Jack Welch to Dave Matthews and Walt Ribeiro have Twitter accounts. Can Twitter get any more mainstream? Sadly, yes.
"Do NOT Twitter" warnings are now being added to fire safety posters. If there's a fire in your building, don't tweet about it... until you are safely outside.
Still not sure what this "Twitter" thing is all about? This methodshop.com tutorial might shed some light on your problem.
Tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma
methodshop
Labels: pics, social networking
6/18/2009
How to Tweet Video Clips on Twitter Using BubbleTweet
Can't fully express yourself with Twitter's 140-character limit? It can be tough. And sometimes plain text just isn't enough. Luckily services like TwitPic and Ping.fm allow us to embed picture links in our tweets. But what about video? There are actually a few services helping bring video to Twitter and BubbleTweet is one of the best.A "BubbleTweet" is a short video clip that plays in a"bubble video player" that floats on top of your Twitter page. That's right. When one of your Twitter followers clicks on your BubbleTweet URL, the video clip plays on top of your Twitter page. Then, when the video is done playing, the player "pops" and goes away. It's simple, easy to use and just plain fun.
Besides a Twitter account, all you need to start BubbleTweeting is an existing video clip or a webcam. Ready to make your first BubbleTweet? The tutorial link below will walk you through the process step-by-step.
Tutorial: How to tweet video clips on Twitter using BubbleTweet
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, tutorial, video
6/01/2009
Twootles: Search Google and Twitter At the Same Time
It's probably only a matter of time until Google integrates Twitter tweets into their search results. But until that day comes, there's Twootles.Twootles a simple but web service that let's you search on Google and Twitter at the same time and will displays both results side-by-side. That's all that Twootles does right now but the developers promise that more features are on their way. You can give Twootles a try at twootles.com.
Still not sure what this "Twitter" thing is all about? This methodshop.com tutorial might shed some light on your problem.
Tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
5/04/2009
Yappler - Your Twitter Lifespan
Twitter first launched in 2006. But the social networking service only reached critical mass recently when everyone from Martha Stewart to 'Good Morning America' signed up.Although some people are just discovering Twitter, many of us have been tweeting for several years now. What about yourself? How long have you been on Twitter? Not exactly sure? Michael from @YapplerStream created an app that shows you how many days you've been tweeting and your Twitter join date.
The Yappler app can also come in handy if you're unsure about following someone on Twitter and want to check them out. Many times spam marketers will join Twitter and follow as many people as possible. Eventually the Twitter staff will track them down and delete their account. But if you are followed by some random tweeter, use this app to see how long they've been using Twitter. If they've been using Twitter for several months or years, then congrats you have a social networking fan. But if they just joined Twitter 5 minutes ago, then beware. It looks like you have a spammer chasing you around.
Now stop wasting company time tweeting. Follow @methodshop and get back to work!
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
4/21/2009
Domino's Response: Fighting a Social Media Nightmare with Social Media
What should a major fast food chain, like Domino's Pizza, do when two employees create a PR nightmare by posting videos of themselves tampering with customer's food on YouTube?A few years ago, the typical corporate response might have been to pull the videos off the Internets, hide their heads in the sand like an ostrich and wait for the PR storm to pass.
But like fighting fire with fire, Domino's smartly chose to fight their social media nightmare using social media. Patrick Doyle, president of Domino's USA, quickly posted a video response to the "Disgusting Domino's Pizza Employees" video on YouTube and setup a Twitter account (@dpzinfo) to answer questions from concerned customers. As a result, Domino's is being praised for their actions and might be able to spin this public relations disaster into something slightly positive.
The "Disgusting Domino's Pizza Employees" videos had already spread across the Internet like wildfire and there was no way the company would have been able to pull all the videos and contain the damage. The videos, filmed at a Conover, NC Domino's Pizza, had already been embedded on thousands of blogs (including methodshop.com) and social networking profile pages. Confronting the problem with honesty and speaking directly to the public using social media was a very wise decision.
Hopefully Domino's sales won't be too bad. But we wouldn't expect customers to flock back to the local Conover, NC location anytime soon.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, video
4/07/2009
Flutter - The New Twitter
Don't have time to Twitter? Do you dread composing lengthy 140 characters tweets? Who doesn't. Move over Twitter, here comes Flutter to the rescue.Flutter messages, or flaps (like a hummingbird's wing) are limited to only 26 characters. One full English alphabet is the maximum flap. Seriously, if you can't express your thoughts in a full English alphabet then you might want to take some lessons in brevity from @TheMime.
Flutter can also import messages from other social networking sites, like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, and automatically shorten them to 26 character flaps. For example, lets say your friend Tweets this "working on some new designs for the album cover and watching project runway in my underwear lol!" Flutter would automatically shorten this message to say "wrking 4 project underwear."
By the way, we're just kidding. The Flutter video is a mockumentary about a fictional company called Flutter that wants to take microblogging to the next level. Enjoy.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, video
3/02/2009
Skittles.com Social Media Makeover
Everyone and their grandmother is starting to jump on the social media bandwagon, but few companies really "get it" let alone take social media to a whole new level. It might be hard to believe, but as of this week, Skittles is now one of the most innovative brands involved in social media marketing.If you go to Skittles.com, you might be surprised to see they're replaced their home page with a widget that links to Skittles social media pages on Twitter, Flickr, Wikipedia and YouTube. That's right Skittles has gotten a complete social media makeover. No press releases, canned marketing copy or boring "about page" text. Skittles has basically given control of their brand and product image to social media communities. Very risky! Needless to say, someone in Skittles marketing department has giant balls.
Many companies are beginning to realize how important social media communities can be for their brand, but who would have thought Skittles would have been a trailblazer??
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
2/25/2009
Twitter Autofollowing Tutorial
Autofollowing people on Twitter just got a whole lot easier.Last month we wrote a detailed tutorial on methodshop.com that walked you through how to setup up your Twitter account to autofollow anyone who follows you using a service called TweetLater. Part of the process involved making an autoforward rule in Gmail. But after getting an inbox full of undelivered mail this past weekend, we figured we should sign in to TweetLater.com and see what was up.
It turns out that Twitter recently updated their API and TweetLater no longer requires you to forward emails to them using Gmail. Here's a blog post from TweetLater with more details about the update:
Thanks to a positive addition to the Twitter API, TweetLater was able implement a completely different way of identifying new followers.
We now get that information directly from the Twitter API, and we do not need your forwarded Twitter new follower notification emails anymore.
Please remove/delete/inactivate the forwarding rule that forwards emails to twitterfollow@tweetlater.com.
You can do this right now because we have already migrated the new follower processing for your Twitter account over to the new and far more efficient method.
At this point in time we'll be processing your new followers once a day, but we may do it more often in the future.
Even though we process your followers once a day, we automatically spread out your welcome message throughout the day. Your new followers won't all get their welcome messages at the same time. In other words, if you publish public welcome tweets, your timeline will not be littered with a bunch of welcome messages all at once. And, if you send DMs, you will see the DMs drip-feed into your Sent DM folder throughout the day.
If you have new follower vetting turned on in TweetLater, then know that it will still work as before. The only change is that your new followers are added to that list once a day now, as opposed to through-out the day. (If you haven't checked out the new follower vetting feature yet, please do so now. It is really cool.)
There's a lot of good news in this announcement. If you've struggled in the past to get your automation working, it will now "just work" (provided that we still have your valid Twitter username and password on file).
If you previously used this methodshop.com tutorial to setup your Twitter account to autofollow your followers, then you'll need to disable the Gmail auto forward rule. We've also updated the tutorial with some new instructions.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, tutorial
2/03/2009
Twitter Chatter During the Super Bowl (Interactive Graphic)
Steelers and Cardinals fans weren't just sitting idle watching the Super Bowl last Sunday on TV. Apparently their thumbs were tweeting up a storm on the micro-blogging service Twitter. The NY Times put together a great interactive map showing the frequency and location of commonly used words in Super Bowl related tweets.
If you're still not sure what Twitter ius all about, here's a 101 primer on Twitter and tips on how to explain it. Tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
12/12/2008
Migrating Pownce to Soup.io
Don't want all your Pownce messages to disappear when they shutdown on December 15, 2008? Don't worry! Soup.io is here to save the day.Soup.io built a handy little Pownce migration tool that will import all your Pownce messages, media and friends all in one shot. Just type in your Pownce username, password and email. Then the migration tool takes it from there.
Pownce gave users access to special export tool... but what are you going to do with your exported Pownce archive? The Soup.io Pownce migration tool was quick, painless and will keep your Pownces alive online. Overall, definitely worth checking out.
But hurry. You only have a few more days to migrate your Pownce account to Soup.io before Monday, December 15th.
You can find methodshop on Soup.io here: http://methodshop.soup.io/
methodshop
Labels: social networking, tech news
12/07/2008
5 Tools to Make #Twitter More Productive
Twitter is a great service. But their lack of features is mind-boggling. Thank God 3rd parties have stepped in and made Twitter what it is today.If you are tweeting anyway, you might as well get the most out of it. Here are....
5 Tools to Make Twitter More Productive:
- Twitter Groups - Got a lot of Twitter followers? Want to easily customize your messaging to them? Twitter Groups allows you to tag/organize your followers into groups. Then you can send a custom messages to your Twitter Groups all at once. The days of sending messages to your Twitter followers one by one are over.
- TweetVolume - Want to do a little marketing research and find out what people are talking about on Twitter? TweetVolume is a frequency search tool to see how often a unique name (person, brand, etc) is mentioned on Twitter.
- TweetStats - While you are doing some research, take a look at yourself. TweetStats tells you fun stuff about your Twitter account like your tweets per hour, tweets per month, tweet timeline and even Reply statistics.
- TwitterMail - With TwitterMail you can setup a secret email address for your Twitter accounts and tweet via email. The body of the message will be published in your Twitter Profile. The subject field in your emails can be used to type in a time and schedule your tweets to post automatically.
- TwitPic - TwitPic lets you share photos on Twitter. Just like with TwitterMail, you create a secret email address for your account and email your photos directly to your Twitter account. Snap away with your mobile phone. Now you can capture your moments and share them with your Twitter friends as they happen. Just be sure to use the Subject line of your email to type your message. It's the opposite of TwitterMail so pay attention... especially when you're wasted. A drunken tweet could get you fired.
Have no idea what Twitter is all about? Here's a 101 primer on Twitter and tips on how to explain it to someone like... your Grandma.
Tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma
Feeling wild? You can follow @methodshop on Twitter here.
methodshop
Labels: advertising, social networking
12/01/2008
Pownce R.I.P.
It's official. Pownce is dead. The micro-blogging service is shutting down in 2 weeks.In case you were unfamiliar with Pownce.com, it was a free social networking and micro-blogging site started by Internet entrepreneurs Kevin Rose (Digg.com), Leah Culver, and Daniel Burka.
Pownce was centered around sharing messages, files, events, and links with already-established friends.
The site launched on June 27, 2007, and was opened to the public on January 22, 2008.
Recently Six Apart, the makers of the blogging software Movable Type, purchased Pownce but then decided to shut it down. We're not sure if Six Apart plans to integrate Pownce-like features into a future version of Movable Type or if they purchased Pownce but then lacked the resources to do anything with it.
This letter was sent to Pownce users this evening:
We are sad to announce that Pownce is shutting down on December 15, 2008. As of today, Pownce will no longer be accepting new users or new pro accounts.
Pro Pownce users should visit http://www.sixapart.com/pownce/pro.html for additional information.
To help with your transition to another service, we have built an export tool so you can save your content. You can find the export tool at Settings > Export. Please export your content by December 15, 2008, as the site will not be accessible after this date.
Our thanks go out to everyone who contributed to the Pownce community,
The Pownce Crew
Unfortunately, despite having an abundance of features compared to competing services like Twitter, Pownce failed to really catch on.
If you were following MethodShop.com on Pownce, please switch over to our Twitter account.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, tech news
10/21/2008
Ping.fm Goes Down
If you tried to use Ping.fm today, you might have noticed some... major problems. For the record, Ping.fm wasn't shut down due to the recent financial problems on Wall Street. It's looks like a simple domain registration and hosting company communication issue.Ping.fm CEO Sean McCullough, posted this note on GetSatisfaction.com to try to put Ping.fm users at ease:
"Just to set everyone at ease, we are simply waiting on GoDaddy to update their end so that this mess becomes history. I've been in direct contact with them. Actually, the office of the President of GoDaddy called me personally ensuring that they are working on this with a high priority. Everyone can do us a favor by just spreading the word that everything in power is being done to correct this. And be known that we aren't going anywhere. This isn't us leaving, nor shutting down. This is a problem that has come between service provider and client. It's unfortunate, but it happens."
Twitter users have been very confused about Ping.fm's status. The Twitterverse has been full of comments like the following:
- ZoeConnolly: Does anyone know what happened to ping.fm? I'm getting a GoDaddy generic page now :(
- urn: Ping.fm is being dumb. Keeps returning my mail.
- dudenhofer: looks like ping.fm forgot to pay their hosting fee... oops!
- lnewcomer: wonders if ping.fm is really dead?
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, tech news
10/14/2008
Apple Notebook Event - Twitter Coverage
Want to instantly know what #Apple announces later today at their "Notebook Event"? We'll be posting live via Twitter (twitter.com/methodshop) or you can follow the entire Twitterverse using Twitter's search tool:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=apple
methodshop
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=apple
methodshop
Labels: apple, social networking, tech news
9/24/2008
Twitter and #Current Team Up for Hack the Debate
Current.com and Twitter are teaming up for a U.S. Presidential Debate mash-up called "Hack The Debate."Current is streaming Friday night's debate online and will display Twitter messages (aka "tweets") over the live broadcast of the debate between John McCain and Barack Obama in real-time. This will allow viewers to comment live on what's being said during the debate and even fact check questionable statements made by the candidates.
How exactly will "Hack the Debate" work? Twitter users who add the #current hash tag to their tweets will see their comments displayed as a "lower 3rd" graphic on the bottom on the screen. For example:
"This discussion about universal healthcare makes me want to pop some pills! #current"
Current says it will only edit out comments that fail to meet standards and practices thresholds. (ie: no 4 letter words.)
This is an excellent idea. People love seeing their Twitter tweets on-air (CNN's Rick Sanchez proved that during the hurricanes).
Barack Obama is currently the #1 person on Twitter with over 80,000 followers, so expect a heavy turnout of his Twitter supporters. John McCain's Twitter account has a little over 2k.
If you don't understand what all this Twitter and "tweet" stuff is all about, check out this tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma.
methodshop
Labels: social networking, tech news, video
9/15/2008
How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma
As Twitter continues to gain in popularity and users, those of us already on Twitter might find ourselves in a position where we have to explain Twitter to a non-techie type person like Grandma (or John McCain).So what do you say when someone asks you something silly like "What is the Twitter?" or "Are you taking the Twitter?"
Here's a "how to" article full of images and videos that help explain some of the functionally and uses of Twitter.
methodshop
Labels: social networking, tech news
9/02/2008
CNN's Rick Sanchez uses Twitter to Spread Gustav Conversations
This past weekend, as Hurricane Gustav was threatening New Orleans, CNN reporter Rick Sanchez was using social media while broadcasting via traditional media.Rick setup his own Twitter page @ricksanchezcnn (here's a 101 tutorial on Twitter if you are unfamiliar with the service) and was on the air reporting on Gustav and answering "tweets" from viewers in the hurricane zone during the weekend primetime edition of CNN Newsroom.
Rick's efforts have been so successful, CNN decided to give him his own Twitter focused show called Rick Sanchez Direct. According to one of Rick's recent tweets, the show will "play off" what he's been doing online with social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Snachez used Twitter on both the Saturday and Sunday episodes of CNN Newsroom last weekend. Here are the ratings:
- The Saturday CNN Newsroom episode where Snachez first used Twitter on the air was the most watched and highest rated of all newscasts on all networks during that time period.
- CNN Newsroom (Saturday) was also the most-watched CNN program of the day for the P25-54 segment with 602,000 average viewers.
- CNN Newsroom (Sunday, 11pm) was the #1 cable program in its time period.
The first episode of Rick Sanchez Direct airs Sept 8th at 3pm on CNN.
methodshop.com
Labels: social networking, tech news
8/18/2008
Meredith Vieira Doesn't Own an iPod
For the past couple weeks, NBC has been “tweeting” Olympic related messages via Twitter for NBC's morning news program the Today Show (twitter.com/todayshow).Everyday the Today Show "tweets" about everything from the weather in Beijing, to behind the scenes tidbits and how NBC’s employees are spending their days in China. But this morning we learned something new about co-host Meredith Vieira. You might want to sit down or brace yourself.... she doesn't own an iPod (gasp!).
Why is her admission so weird to me? I can't tell if it's the fact that she doesn't own an iPod or that she felt the need to confess it.
methodshop
Labels: social networking, tech news
8/15/2008
Barack Obama Takes Top Spot on Twitter
While John McCain is still learning how to use email (we're not kidding), his U.S. Presidential competition has completely mastered the micro-blogging service Twitter.This month, American presidential candidate Barack Obama dethroned Kevin Rose from Digg.com and became the most popular person on Twitter. According to Twitterholic, a website that measures the "followers" of Twitter accounts, Barack Obama has over 58,000 followers.
Obama's closest Twitter competitor is still Kevin Rose with 56k followers. Robert Scoble, CNN Breaking News and Leo Laporte help round out the top 10.
Someone not in the Twitterholic top 10... John McCain. In fact McCain isn't even in the top 100. The only serious McCain Twitter account we found has a little over 1,000 followers. A truly pitiful showing for someone who is running for president of the United States.
Here's a 101 primer on Twitter and tips on how to explain it. If someone who personally knows John McCain is reading this, please print the article out for him (because you can't email it to him yet).
And if you are feeling wild, you can follow @methodshop on Twitter here.
methodshop
Labels: social networking, tech news
8/01/2008
Eureka's S.A.R.A.H. is on Twitter
The Sci Fi Channel is using Twitter to help build buzz for its program Eureka. S.A.R.A.H., the talking smart house from the show, has its own Twitter account. For the past 2 weeks, S.A.R.A.H. has been "tweeting" and replying to her followers . So far more than 1,300 Eureka fans are "following" S.A.R.A.H. on the microblogging service.Perhaps S.A.R.A.H. can give Twitter CEO, Biz Stone, some tips on how to keep Twitter up and running more consistently.
If you already have a Twitter account, you can follow S.A.R.A.H.'s tweets here. While you are adding friends on Twitter, add us too. We're at http://twitter.com/methodshop
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
6/24/2008
Twitter Intergration into Modern Conference Technolgy
http://www.methodshop.com/2008/06/twitter-intergration-into-modern.shtml
I'm sitting in the Rose Hall at the Personal Democracy Fourm #PDF2008 right now at Lincoln Center and they've placed power ports throughout the main auditorium. They've also installed an almost spotless high speed WiFi Network.
Why? Almost every attendee at this conference is a blogger, reporter, or podcaster?
While the presence of power and WiFi makes life easier for bloggers, it also puts a lot more pressure on the speakers. Having a laptop in front of you while a boring speaker is on stage is a powerful distraction.
For example, Jonathan Zittrain just left the stage. He gave an amazing lecture based on his upcoming book "The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It." When Zittrain was on stage, the quiet background noise of fingers typing disappeared.
But what happens when there's a bad speaker on stage? Just take a look around at the laptop screens. Blogging and word processing windows get minimized and people start checking their Facebook pages and email.
Twitter has also been fully integrated into the modern expo or conference. A few years ago, only hardcore techies were using Twitter at a conferences. But now you can Tweet using a variety or clients on your mobile phone or laptop. Conference organizers know this and several conferences like PDF have used Twitter scanning services like Sumerize.com and Twemes.com to take questions from remote attendees and even people sitting in the audience.
Just add a # symbol to your Twitter Tweet and Twemes will automatically add it to a separate page for an event. Here's the Twemes page for #pdf2008 if you want to check it out: http://twemes.com/pdf2008
methodshop
I'm sitting in the Rose Hall at the Personal Democracy Fourm #PDF2008 right now at Lincoln Center and they've placed power ports throughout the main auditorium. They've also installed an almost spotless high speed WiFi Network.Why? Almost every attendee at this conference is a blogger, reporter, or podcaster?
While the presence of power and WiFi makes life easier for bloggers, it also puts a lot more pressure on the speakers. Having a laptop in front of you while a boring speaker is on stage is a powerful distraction.
For example, Jonathan Zittrain just left the stage. He gave an amazing lecture based on his upcoming book "The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It." When Zittrain was on stage, the quiet background noise of fingers typing disappeared.
But what happens when there's a bad speaker on stage? Just take a look around at the laptop screens. Blogging and word processing windows get minimized and people start checking their Facebook pages and email.
Twitter has also been fully integrated into the modern expo or conference. A few years ago, only hardcore techies were using Twitter at a conferences. But now you can Tweet using a variety or clients on your mobile phone or laptop. Conference organizers know this and several conferences like PDF have used Twitter scanning services like Sumerize.com and Twemes.com to take questions from remote attendees and even people sitting in the audience.
Just add a # symbol to your Twitter Tweet and Twemes will automatically add it to a separate page for an event. Here's the Twemes page for #pdf2008 if you want to check it out: http://twemes.com/pdf2008
methodshop
Labels: events, social networking, tech news
5/28/2008
Reddit Redesign
Wired's social news site Reddit.com recently completed a redesign featuring vastly improved navigation, organization and customization tools.
Now there's a handy single-click link to Reddit's "most controversial" posts - i.e. the ones with the most user votes and a way to view your pages in compressed link format.
methodshop
Now there's a handy single-click link to Reddit's "most controversial" posts - i.e. the ones with the most user votes and a way to view your pages in compressed link format.
methodshop
Labels: social networking, tech news
4/29/2008
Young Teachers Gone Wild on Facebook
Yesterday the Washington Post published a great article about young teachers and their wild Facebook profiles. What did The Washington Post find? Sexual innuendos, a talking sperm cartoon, helpful tips like 'Don't smoke crack while pregnant' and a lot of sexual objectification and drunk party photos.How do you find these "wild teacher" profiles on Facebook? It's easy.
- Log on to Facebook. You need an account.
- Join your local neighborhood/city network.
- Search Facebook for the name of your local school system.
- Then sit back and "watch the public profiles of 20-something teachers unfurl like gift wrap on the screen, revealing a sense of humor that can be overtly sarcastic or unintentionally unprofessional -- or both."
So who is in the wrong here? Are the young teachers naive to the fact that their students, parents and school administrators can see their Facebook profiles? Or are we wrong for holding teachers to a higher standard than the average Facebook user?
Some American states including Florida, Colorado, Tennessee and Massachusetts have banned teachers from having public profiles on MySpace and Facebook. And teachers unions have started warning their members of the dangers of having a racy social network presence. The teacher's unions might want to add Flickr to that caution list. A quick Flickr search for "sexy teacher" introduced us to Jennifer. She's a teacher in Taipei who wants to be a model.Here's an easy solution for everyone. If you are a teacher, then edit your privacy prefs. Don't allow everyone in a Facebook network to see your full profile. Anyone can join your local city/town network and see your profile. Or take advantage of Facebook's "Limited Profile" feature. It only takes a few seconds to edit your privacy preferences and it could save your job.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
4/07/2008
Facebook Chat
According to the Facebook blog, the social network is launching a live chat feature this week allowing users to communicate in real time from their Facebook profile pages. It's still in beta I think. Not everyone has been able to install the new chat application yet. I've gotten a few install errors so far and I don't see the chat app in my profile yet.A chat application is great news for Facebook users. The "Wall" application was great for some things. But sometimes you just want to have a conversation with someone that isn't publicly posted in their profile or doesn't have the delay of going to their "Inbox" first. In case you were wondering, all Facebook Chat conversations are one-to-one, completely private, and only between Facebook friends.
Bonus: You don't have to get IM account info from all your Facebook friends. Just install the app and your Facebook friends will automatically get added to your chat list.
To add the Facebook Chat application to your profile, just click here. But remember it's a little buggy still. Don't flip out if you get an error. Hopefully they will get things all straightened out by the end of the week.
I hope they add a "Pages" option to the chat app next. It would be nice to be able to chat with fans on the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
3/10/2008
Movie Clips on Facebook
Paramount Pictures will become the first major studio to make clips from thousands of its movies available for use on the Internet.The unit of Viacom Inc. is teaming with Los Angeles-based developer FanRocket to launch the VooZoo application Monday on Facebook.
The service gives Facebook users access to footage from thousands of movies, ranging from The Ten Commandments to Forrest Gump, to send to others on the popular social networking site.
"The short clips for a movie that you've already seen before helps you relive the moment," Paramount senior vice president of entertainment Derek Broes said.
The clips last from a few seconds to several minutes and cover the gamut from Eddie Murphy's guffaw in Beverly Hills Cop to Audrey Hepburn's pleas over her "no-name slob" cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
The studio will market DVDs of the movies through a button that appears after each clip is played. It eventually wants to use the application to virally market upcoming releases.
For example, VooZoo is withholding clips from the Indiana Jones series until it works out a way to market the May 22 release of the latest installment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
FanRocket founder Danny Kastner said he is aiming to get a few hundred thousand users within two months and added that the company is in talks with other Hollywood studios to package their titles on VooZoo.That could take time, however, since Paramount staffers needed more than a year to select clips from the archive and tag them with search terms.
You can join the MethodShop.com Fan page on Facebook here.
methodshop
Labels: social networking, tech news, video
11/14/2007
Bebo Launches Open Media Platform
Bebo is offering programmers yet another way to reach young audiences. The company launched an ambitious Open Media platform with 22 major content partners and promised to create more interactive programming following the success of Kate Modern.
Programmers such as CBS, ESPN, MTV, Next New Networks and Turner Broadcasting can publish content to Bebo's 40 million users, who can freely collect and share it via "Personal Video Profiles." The system will also carry advertising, revenue from which broadcasters won't have to share with Bebo.
The social networking site is second only to MySpace and Facebook in terms of unique users, who spend an average of 40 minutes per day on the site.
If you are on Facebook, you might want to join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Programmers such as CBS, ESPN, MTV, Next New Networks and Turner Broadcasting can publish content to Bebo's 40 million users, who can freely collect and share it via "Personal Video Profiles." The system will also carry advertising, revenue from which broadcasters won't have to share with Bebo.
The social networking site is second only to MySpace and Facebook in terms of unique users, who spend an average of 40 minutes per day on the site.
If you are on Facebook, you might want to join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
10/16/2007
Hatebook - An Evil Facebook Parody
Tired of Facebook? Got some bad blood you need to vent online? Then embrace your hate and say hello to Hatebook.Hatebook is a Facebook parody site that looks and functions exactly like Facebook... except with an evil twist.
Here's a brief list of the "evil twist" to give you a better idea of how Hatebook compares to Facebook:
- if you want to mail message someone on Hatebook, it's called "junkmail"
- instead of a blue color scheme, Hatebook is an evil red
- profiles (called "hate profiles") include a section called “Why I’m Better Than You!”
- "Hate Albums" consist of photos and descriptions of things you hate
- Are you married? Single? Hatebook doesn't care. Your status options consist of Hater, Player, Sucker, Loser, etc.
"Hello Sucker methodshop! Welcome to Hatebook! Your registration to the Evil Empire was successful. Feel free to pimp your hate profile."Also, you are suppose to enter in the wrong mailing address to hide from your enemies. I just used our P.O. Box. I don't really mind if someone hates that. I don't really like it myself.
But why just parody Facebook when you can improve it? The German creators of Hatebook have not only recreated Facebook's functionality, they have also improved it. For example, they've integrated Google Maps into Hatebook (Evil Maps) so you can locate people you hate on a map.
Does everybody love to hate? Even advertisers? Time will tell. In the meantime feel free to hate MethodShop.com here: http://hatebook.org/user/methodshop
Or join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
8/28/2007
iBought: Useless Chitika Facebook Application
When I checked my email this morning, I noticed that Chitika, the blogger-driven merchandising/shopping network, made a Facebook application called iBought. The application allows Facebook users to show off their latest purchases in their profiles.
How useful is iBought? If you checkout my Facebook profile, it says I just bought a goat. No, I didn't really buy a goat. But I wanted to see what ads Chitika would list based on the word goat. Care to guess? I now have 3 bottles of Horny Goat Weed on my Facebook profile. But let's say I bought something good like a giant HD-TV. Why would I list it on my Facebook profile? That's like inviting someone to rob you. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure the iBought application will be deleted by the end of the week.
Besides being useless, Chitika needs to fine tune the application coding. I got this error after trying to interact with the iBought application in my Facebook profile:
So why would anyone want to install the useless iBought application on their Facebook profile? Chitika is paying $1 per for every friend you get to install iBought. The offer is only open to the first 10,000 installs.
$1 isn’t a lot, but if you have a ton of Facebook friends it could be a worthwhile. Then again, you'll probably make all your friends hate you. Still interested? You can install the iBought Facebook application here.
If you are on Facebook, you might want to join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
How useful is iBought? If you checkout my Facebook profile, it says I just bought a goat. No, I didn't really buy a goat. But I wanted to see what ads Chitika would list based on the word goat. Care to guess? I now have 3 bottles of Horny Goat Weed on my Facebook profile. But let's say I bought something good like a giant HD-TV. Why would I list it on my Facebook profile? That's like inviting someone to rob you. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure the iBought application will be deleted by the end of the week.Besides being useless, Chitika needs to fine tune the application coding. I got this error after trying to interact with the iBought application in my Facebook profile:
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/html/facebook/lib/facebookapi_php5_restlib.php:1) in /var/www/html/facebook/lib/facebook.php on line 197
So why would anyone want to install the useless iBought application on their Facebook profile? Chitika is paying $1 per for every friend you get to install iBought. The offer is only open to the first 10,000 installs.
$1 isn’t a lot, but if you have a ton of Facebook friends it could be a worthwhile. Then again, you'll probably make all your friends hate you. Still interested? You can install the iBought Facebook application here.
If you are on Facebook, you might want to join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
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Turkey Bowl is a 3D perspective target game where you celebrate the fall harvest by knocking over turkeys with bowling apples. Here's a hint, the turkeys further away are worth more points. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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