Category: Tech

Two things Twitter needs to do ASAP

Kevin2 Comments

I’ve had two thoughts about Twitter that I need to get out there.

twitter_logo_sFirst, Twitter needs to make money. They can’t continue on venture capital for much longer. People will only throw money at a business opportunity that doesn’t make any money for as long as they can see potential. At some point unfulfilled potential becomes  no potential. If Twitter can’t monetize their service soon they’ll dissolve away into only our memories as many websites have done before.

Second, Twitter needs to overhaul their ridiculous “replies” system. It’s not really a reply at all. Basically, you’re just tweeting something to or about another person that may or may not have anything to do with what that person just tweeted. It doesn’t really allow a person to “reply” to what somebody has said. But the current system does have value and shouldn’t be eliminated. I like the functionality it provides, but it’s not a true reply. What they need to do is create a reply/comment tree setup that both friendfeed and facebook have figured out how to do. This would allow people to actually have more real conversations instead of just the name-dropping or shout outs that happen now. This would make the service much more useful.

Ok, that’s enough ranting for tonight.

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Changed My Comment System…Again!!!

Kevin3 Comments

It was just over two months ago that I changed my blog’s commenting system from the default WordPress system to Disqus. I had seen quite a few sites that were using Disqus and I really liked the built in interactivity that it has. But I decided to make the switch to IntenseDebate.

The reason was simple. The parent company that owns WordPress, which is what this blog is based on, had acquired IntenseDebate late last year. I guess I should have just used it when I implimented Disqus originally, but I didn’t really think much about it. I imagine that it will at some point become the built-in commenting system, but for now it’s just a plugin on my site.

Human3rror has a post over on his blog listing 13 reasons why he likes IntenseDebate (scroll down to read them).

If you’ve got experience with IntenseDebate please share them in the comments!

I did it…half marathon complete

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I finished my first long-distance race today. I ran the White Rock Half Marathon in a respectable time of 2:20:47. It was a great experience and I think I’ll do it again someday. The race capped off a stellar year for me: finished my Masters in May, had my first baby in May, turned 30 in November, and ran the half marathon today (Dec 14).

I trained about as well as I could have. I think in my next training I won’t push myself so hard in my pace, but train steady and follow a training calculator verbatim. I ran faster than my suggested times in almost all of my runs. I think that might have slowed me down a little since I was fairly tired at the end. Another thing I’ll do different is to bring my own water bottle to keep with me while I run. The aid stations were great and all, but there were a few times that I really wanted something to drink but the next aid station wasn’t for a while.

The last thing I’ll do differently is I’ll exchange my shoes when my instincts tell me to. I bought an expensive pair back in October and they gave me a terrible blister. I went back to the store to exchange them, but the salesman gave me some pointers on how to prevent it from happening again. I should have just gotten a different pair, because I got a few more blisters during my training and a pretty bad one at the race today.

Other than that, it was a great experience overall. I really feel like I pushed myself to do this and I was able to rise to the challenge. If you’ve never ran a long-distance race I’d encourage you to give it a try.

After all, you have 365 days to train for next year’s White Rock Marathon or Half Marathon.

A Lesson on Communication from the Election

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Today is the day after the Electuon and it’s typically called the election hangover day. You may be tired of hearing about it along with all the political ads, but I learned an extremely valuable lesson from the whole process that I knew was true before, but saw it come to fruition on a nation-wide scale last night.

That lesson is that in communication delivery trumps content. How I saw it in the election is that by most standards John McCain is far more qualified to be the leader of the USA, but Obama was always called a great communicator. The only message that Obama was putting forward was “change” but didn’t really elaborate on what that meant. McCain had a longer record of service and he has been a proven leader for many years, but the packaging of that message was not nearly as compelling as Obama’s to the majority of people.

For me, that’s a stark reminder to make sure that I have both good content along with great delivery. I know that content matters, but if it’s not delivered in a compelling way it won’t be heard.

New Comment System, powered by Disqus.com

Kevin4 Comments

[UPDATE: I’ve switched to IntenseDebate starting 1/17/09)

I’ve just implemented a new comment system on my blog (it’s over at kevinrossen.com for all you facebook readers). It lets you reply to other people’s comments, rate others’ comments, and much more! I’m pretty excited about the potential it has, so check it out and let me know what you think (at kevinrossen.com, again for you facebookers).

Here’s a post that’s already generated some comments: http://ping.fm/DJuJp

Initial review of Google’s web browser Chrome (OR Further proof that Google is taking over the world)

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This afternoon Google released their brand-spanking-new web browser called Chrome. I’ve been using it this afternoon for my normal, day-to-day browsing and web use. My initial take is that it’s a great browser with some room to grow.

 

Chrome Screenshot
Chrome Screenshot

I spend most of my time using Google products: Gmail, Google Reader, Google Docs, and search. Overall it seems like the response and load time of these apps is quite a bit faster. No surprise here really, though, since they wrote the software they want their products to work really well on it. I also signed into a couple Yahoo products (mail, Flickr, and Delicious) and they seemed to load really well too, so they didn’t just write an app for their own products.

 

I did notice a few small bugs. First, I was not able to change or upload a new profile pic. I’m thinking part of the problem is with Facebook’s programming, though, since I’ve had a few issues with the site in Firefox. Also, I was not able to sign into Rhapsody’s web interface. The sign in window would open, but there weren’t any fields that I could enter text into. I’m also going to miss the Delicious bookmarking addon, so that will be an adjustment, too.

Other than those minor annoyances I’m impressed with the browser. I’m planning on using it as my primary browser for the time being, so after a week or so I might be able to give a fuller review of the product. Download it for yourself and give it a try (if you use Windows as your OS, that is).

See also:
Google’s official announcement/comic book about Chrome
CNET’s Webware Blog Review
Lifehacker’s First Look

Get a free commentary from Logos…for a limited time

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The Bible software that I use, Logos, is giving away a free copy of the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary on Matthew and Mark for free. Here’s the info from their blog:

We have arranged with Tyndale to give away the Matthew, Mark volume for free–no strings attached! For a limited time (until the Pre-Pub ships) you can head over to product page and add this wonderful title to your Libronix digital library absolutely free of charge. Use coupon code CORNERSTONE during checkout.

Check it out over at their blog.

Drowning in email? Maybe you’ve believed a myth.

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Communication used to be much easier. Before the days of email you would either send a letter, place a telephone call, or simply talk with someone face-to-face. Those days are long gone. We are bombarded with communication from many more angles. Email, text messages, facebook wall posts, and more make it difficult to stay on top of being current on communicating with people.

But the problem may not simply be the massive amount of emails we receive. In fact, it’s probably more to do with how we have chosen to process email. I know a lot of people who leave EVERYTHING in their email inbox. They have literally thousands of messages, many unread, that are sitting in an inbox. No wonder they feel overwhelmed. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Right now I have six messages sitting in my work email inbox. There are also 17 that I have starred that I either need to review or act on. The oldest of these is only one week old. I’m actually way behind on my email by the standards that I’ve set for me. I don’t like to leave the office with ANY messages left unprocessed. At most, maybe 2-3 that I’m waiting on someone or something to act on.

I haven’t always been like this. There was a time when the normal response time for me was 4-7 days and it wasn’t uncommon for me to take 2-3 weeks to reply to messages. I finally woke up out of this email stupor and decided I needed to make some changes.

There was one thing that was really the catalyst for this change: Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero. The basic premise is that you can get your inbox to zero and then keep it that way. It’s true and it’s a great feeling.

In addition to this I recently came across a post over at lifehack.org that lists 7 Email Myths That Plague the Workplace. I’ve fallen trap to some of these myths before and imagine you have too. There are two that stand out to me in particular:

  • You need to reply to every email. This is not true. There are many email that you really don’t even need to read. If you know you don’t ever want or need the message just delete it. What I do is use Gmail’s archive feature that lets me know that I’ll have the email if I ever need it again, but most importantly it gets the message quickly out of my inbox so that it won’t distract me from messages that will require my action.
  • Email is a beast that can’t be tamed. Again, a myth that’s easy to fall pray to. There are many people who receive hundreds of emails a day that require some sort of action. I know because I’m friends with some of them. They may at times get behind, but I know that at some point they plow through the messages and tame the beast. No matter how many messages you get on a daily basis you can tame the email beast. It might take you changing your email provider to use a system that will block spam, but you can do it, you just have to make the choice.

If you have any strategies for taming the email beast share them in the comments.

Google Spreadsheet + Google Maps Gadget = What I’ve been looking for since 2003

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Ever since I can remember I’ve been a fan of maps. We had a world map on our wall when I was growing up that I would stare at for a long time. Anytime I’ve gone on a road trip I’ve planned out the routes by looking at road maps. I love being on a flight that has a GPS map available in-flight. Very early in my ministry I also made a map of where all the students lived using a big wall map and pushpins.

But about five years ago I really thought there could be a better way to keep track of people on a map. The great thing about having the push pin map was that I could get a feel for where everyone lived and plan events based on that info. The bad part was that in order for it to be useful the pins had to be numbered and anytime someone new came to the ministry it totally threw off the numbers being in alphabetic order.

I tried messing with some software and plotting, but I never liked the end result. Google has since come to my rescue. I recently stumbled across a post at the Official Google Docs Blog giving simple instructions on how to insert a google map gadget into your Google Spreadsheet. All you need is a column of addresses, but it’s very useful to have a second column to describe what the marker on the map is (the gadget calls these the tooltip). Once you have both of these columns the steps are very simple:

  1. Highlight all the cells in both columns.
  2. Click Insert | Gadget …
  3. Click Maps.
  4. Click the Add to Spreadsheet button under Map.
  5. Give your map gadget a title.
  6. Click the the check box next to “Last column as tooltip” then click “Apply and close” and your map will appear in your spreadsheet.
  7. OPTIONAL: If you want your map to be bigger click the arrow on the top right corner of the gadget and choose “Move to own sheet…” and it will be as big as the screen will allow.

I made an example of the map that will show up using a list of Chipotle restaurants close to my house. Here it is:

You can also see the original spreadsheet for this map here.

Got any other cool Google tricks? Share them in the comments.