Tweet! I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat!
Do you tweet on Twitter? Is Apple planning to buy Twitter? Why do so many people who sign up for Twitter stop using it after just a few days? Is this just another silly toy for kids? I don't know the answer to the first question. There's a lot of talk about the second, but nothing definitive. For the third question, I have to admit that I have no clue. That leaves number 4 and the answer is a resounding No. Old folks (those above 40) are surprisingly the primary users of Twitter. Hw mch cn u say n 140 chr?
Some people say that e-mail is instant messaging for old folks. If that's true, I think I'm keeping up with the young crowd. I have a couple of AIM accounts and use them every day. E-mail is my primary method of communicating with people. Being over 40 (by a considerable margin) I'm an old folk but I have a Twitter account, watch YouTube, belong to Guru, Pandora, Clipser, PhotoSearch, Shutterfly, MySpace, Facebook, and del.icio.us. I have a Webshots page. I do StumbleUpon. I have a WordPress blog and ... and ... and .... It's hard to keep up with all of this social networking stuff. But if you own a business, you'd better pay attention.
John McCain and Barack Obama both use Twitter, although probably through surrogates in some cases. Forward thinking companies and government agencies are trying to determine how Twitter can help. NPR's Ira Flatow ("Science Friday") uses Twitter to communicate with listeners. The New York Times has a Twitter feed. So does The Onion. And CNN. During the recent violence in Iran, Twitter and other social networking services have delivered news.
Twitter messages are short, a maximum of 140 characters. I can say "So after about a dozen attempts to upload a new background image, it's there; but I had to set the background colors. Again. Too needy!" but not much more. It's possible to include a URL in your tweet (that's a Twitter post), but it will be a shortened URL. The NY Times uses TinyURL, but most Twitter users send URLs using bit.ly.
Here's another message I could (did) send. It's within 1 letter of being too long: "If you really must know, I'm writing an article about Twitter and other social networking sites. It's a great way to spend a Saturday nite." I guess that I could have used "night" instead of "nite" and I would have ended up with 0 characters remaining.
If I Tweet In Your Facebook will you Twitter to my Monster?
Should we be networking or working? Detractors point to the amount of time that's "wasted" by on-line social networking and call for everyone to keep their eye on the ball, get their nose to the grindstone, and ship up or shape out! (Or is that the other way around?) The trouble with that attitude is that it really doesn't exhibit a clear understanding of how the world works.
Who you know is at least as important as what you know. I might know and recommend the owner of a direct marketing service in Brooklyn and you might hire him, not because he's the best service provider you could find if you took the time to do your homework but because you trust my judgment and you know that if the guy in Brooklyn can satisfy me, he must be doing something right.
That's the point of social networking. So keeping track of people you've worked with isn't such a waste of time after all. But there are so many choices! Here's a list of some that I'm familiar with: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Blogs, MySpace, LinkedIn, Guru, del.icio.us, Pandora, Clipser, Experts-Exchange*, Fotiki, PhotoSearch, Hello, Monster, Shutterfly, StumbleUpon, WordPress, Webshots, and SecondLife. Some are business oriented (LinkedIn, Guru, Monster) and some are mainly for fun (YouTube, StumbleUpon, SecondLife). There are music related (Pandora), photo related (Shutterfly, Webshots), and technical related (ExpertsExchange) options. So you could easily spend all day social networking.
*Now "www.experts-exchange", but initially spelled as "www.expertsexchange", which many people read as "expert sex change".
Thousands join Twitter each month, but only about 40 percent of them stick around after a few days. That's a 60% attrition rate. That's worse than the churn most cell phone providers deal with. Maybe the thrill of talking to yourself in a crowd gets old after a few days. Oprah likes Twitter. So what? Some would suggest (and I would be among them) that stars such as Oprah already have all the forums they need and that they should just stay off Twitter.
The Twitter footprint continues to grow. Maybe 10 million accounts today. It's another way that we're constantly connected. And I remember the olden days when some people would "forget" to take their pager with them on a weekend trip. Sometimes it's possible to be too connected.
Twitter and other microblogging tools took on a new importance when a US Air flight landed in the Hudson River. People received the news first-hand from eyewitness observers. News media incorporated the reports of amateur journalists. Good or bad? For all their flaws, newspapers serve a worthwhile purpose and we will miss them when they finally disappear.
Who Tweets and Who Yammers?
This is a surprise. People who are 35 years old and older dominate Twitter. Younger users are there, but it's mainly us old folks tweeting to each other. If tech-savvy kids aren't adopting Twitter, does it have a future?
From the personal contact perspective Twitter, Yammer and the other microblogging services deliver a valuable tool for people to get in touch and stay in touch in our hectic, sometimes chaotic, world.
And yes, there's a service called Yammer. It's intended for communication within a work group. People can have conversations with fellow employees, consultants, suppliers. It allows a profile and group list that you can check, post to, and check from your computer or phone.
Companies have seen value in these services. Companies around the globe use Twitter to talk with customers, sell products, and improve customer support. Dell and HP sell used equipment by using Twitter. FedEx, JetBlue, and Whole Foods Markets are among the users who see Twitter as a way to improve customer relations.
Aha! The Light Bulb Illuminates
Technical and customer support organizations have found that microblogs and social network tools are very effective in delivering service. They can also be used to enhance and expand customer relationships. Most of the social activities have been adapted and adopted to improve service and lower costs according to the Society for New Communications Research.
The Darker Side
The Internet and Web 2.0 social networking tools have helped to produce a mob mentality that feeds the monster bent on damaging individuals, companies, and brands. People will freely say on these services things that they wouldn’t say in face-to-face encounters.
Many companies are exploring and using social networking tools to touch, assist, and learn from their customers, but these same companies are concerned that someone in the organization will make an innocent or malicious statement and then the fecal matter will be distributed by the rotary impeller.
Mark Twain said a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes and he was right. Those organizations that are already using the social media at least have some understanding of how to use these tools when something bad happens.
By the way, you can follow TechByter Worldwide on Twitter. Just click the link at the right and you'll be taken to the Twitter site for details.
Adding a Hard Drive: Easier Done than Said
It's been a while since I added a hard drive to a computer, but two events conspired recently to convince me that it was time to open the case and install a drive. One of two external Seagate USB hard drives was beginning to show signs of age. This is a 200 GB drive that holds all of my music files and some generic photos and clip art. The second factor was an ad from Micro Center offering a 1.5 TB drive for $120. I spent more time driving to the Micro Center store (about 5 miles from home), buying the drive, and returning to the house than I did installing the drive.
Before I left the house, I opened the case to see what was there: 2 SATA hard drives and 2 SATA DVD drives. That meant I was out of SATA ports and would need an extra drive controller. The motherboard had 2 spare PCI slots and 2 spare PCI Express slots. I planned to use one of the PCI Express slots because that would deliver the drive's full 300 MBps data transfer rate. A standard PCI slot would limit transfer to half that.
Adding the controller card to the purchase turned the $120 project into a $180 project, but that still seemed to be a reasonable price.
Back at home with the hardware, I shut down the computer, unplugged everything, removed the cover from the other side of the computer, and put the computer on its side. The first order of business would be to clear some space around the PCI Express connector. A Firewire adapter was blocking the slot I wanted to use for the controller card, so I moved it up a slot and moved the cable.
After plugging the data cable into the card, I slipped the card into the slot and put in the screw to hold it in place.
The new hard drive would need to go into the third drive bay, which was at the bottom of the case. Access was blocked by the sound card and the card's ribbon cables, so I removed the screw that held the card in place, extracted it from the slot, and draped the cables over the side of the case.
Before sliding the hard drive into the bay, I attached the power cable and the data cable. With the drive in place, I inserted the screws (provided by Seagate) to hold the drive in place, restore the sound card to its location, and replaced the screw that holds the sound card in place.
Flipping the box over, I inserted the two screws for the other side of the drive and then replaced the side of the case.
Before returning the computer to its proper location, I confirmed that I had reconnected everything that I'd unplugged during the installation process and checked to be sure that the data cables and power cables were all positioned reasonably.
I plugged all of the external devices back in, plugged in the power cable, and started the computer. Windows noticed a new device and asked for the appropriate driver disc to enable the controller card.
Before I could use the new drive, I had to partition it and format it, so that took me to the Windows Disk Management Console. I decided on 2 partitions, one nominally 800 GB and the other 700 GB.
<< The result. To see a full-size view of the disk management console, click the small image.
Because the drive that held my audio files had been acting a bit strange, I copied those files from the system's hot backup drive instead.
Remember when devices were sold without important parts (disk drives without cables, for example)? The disk drive came with a SATA data cable, a power cable, a jumper, and 4 screws. The adapter card also included a data cable and a power cable. Everything should be this easy.
Short Circuits
Beware the "Microsoft" Fraud
What do you do if you receive an official-looking message from Microsoft (no-reply@microsoft.com)? The message tells you that an update has been released for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. It cites a Knowledgebase incident number. It contains a link that says it goes to Microsoft. Click it and you'll be asked if you want to run a program. Run the program and you'll install a backdoor banking Trojan that allows a remote user to access and steal sensitive data. It also gives an intruder remote access to your computer.
No, I didn't click the link, but I'm willing to bet that some people did.
First I know that Microsoft doesn't send out messages like this, so it was unquestionably a fraud. And that could be the end of the story. But I'll keep going.
The Knowledgebase article cited (KB910721) appears not to exist on Microsoft's website, so that would be another clue that there's a problem.
The next clue: Outlook (version not stated and there are several) is a totally different application than Outlook Express. The two applications were developed by different teams at Microsoft and share very little code. They are never updated with the same patch.
Yet another clue, which may be specific to me. The message was addressed to "batworks@spamarrest.com". I have a SpamArrest account, but the e-mail address associated with it is not "batworks". If Microsoft sent broadcast messages such as this, Microsoft would know enough to send the messages in a way that didn't display the wrong address in the "to" line. Later, I received another copy of the message, this one to "baysmed@spamarrest.com".
The final clue: Hover the mouse over the link and notice the target address: ijlkij.com, which is not registered to Microsoft.
Windows 7 for $50 or $100: Pay Now & Receive Later
Microsoft has a deal for you. Buy Windows 7 now and they'll ship it to you in October. They're offering only two versions, $50 Home Premium (not recommended) or $100 Professional (not "Ultimate", but acceptable.) If you have Windows XP and you're satisfied with it, you might be wise to avoid the urge to send Microsoft money. For one thing, you'll have to format the drive, install the operating system, and then reinstall all of your applications. Naturally, you'll need to have all your data backed up, too, but you should be doing that anyway.
On the other hand, if you're handicapped by Vista, the upgrade will be welcome. You'll still want to have a complete backup, but Windows 7 should install as a Vista upgrade.
Individual buyers may purchase up to 3 copies of either version. That's 3 total, not 3 of each.
I still think that Microsoft should offer just one version of the operating system as everyone else does, not a confusing array of options. For more information, visit the Microsoft website.
Wolfram Alpha, Yet Another Search Engine of Sorts
The folks at Wolfram Alpha say it's not a search engine and they're right. Instead, it's described as an ambitious, long-term intellectual endeavor that will be developed over the coming decades. Currently, it contains more than 10 trillion pieces of data, more than 50,000 types of algorithms and models, and some surprising linguistic capabilities. If you try to use it as a search engine, you'll be disappointed; but if you use it as intended, you'll find information that would be difficult to obtain otherwise.
Try the system for yourself at www.wolframalpha.com.
Click any of the smaller images for a full-size view.
I started with November 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. The information returned was useful—the number of days between then and now, for example.
The "notable events" that occurred on that day were limited to 3 and 2 of the 3 dealt with the Kennedy assassination. I selected that date because I happened to know that author Aldous Huxley also died on that date. This wasn't mentioned and when I selected the "more" link, I was told there was no more information about the date.
You might wonder how I knew Aldous Huxley died on that date. I confirmed the information with Wikipedia and other reference materials, but my first clue came from Sheryl Crow's Run Baby Run lyrics: "She was born in November 1963, the day Aldous Huxley died." That seemed to be a strange reference when I first heard the song, so I did some research.
The Obetz Connection
I thought to ask what Wolfram Alpha could tell me about Obetz, one of the southern suburbs of Columbus, Ohio.
I quickly found the population (4079) and the location (39.88 degrees north, 82.94 degrees west). The temperature was 79 degrees and I was offered some historical weather data (left).
My next test was Brussels.
Wolfram Alpha assumed (reasonably) that I meant Brussels, Belgium, but it also offered to show me the results for towns with the same name in the United States and in Canada.
Wolfram Alpha also says that it will evaluate formulas and report financial information about companies. This is a service that won't replace Google, but it's one that's worth watching.
Thinking About a Job in Bozeman, Montana?
Bozeman, about halfway between Billings and Butte probably is not the place most rising stars in municipal governance aspire to work. But Bozeman's city leaders decided that to ensure candidates considered for positions of "public trust" should be subject to a thorough background check. Fair enough. Check the references. Have your police department run a wants and warrants check. Maybe specify a drug test. That should be sufficient. Not for Bozeman, Montana.
The city of 28,000 recently started asking job applicants to provide their user names and passwords for each of their Internet accounts. Even in a town the size of Bozeman, I would expect the city attorney to take one look at that request and immediately demand that it be taken out. Maybe Bozeman doesn't have a city attorney. Maybe the decision was made by some human resources clerk even though HR people should know better than to ask for information like this, too.
But Bozeman began collecting the user names and passwords for applicants' Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts. It collected user names and passwords for their blogs. Along the way, someone suggested that the city would next start asking for each applicant's old love letters. Then backlash caused a bit of common sense to kick in.
A week ago last Friday, the city manager of Bozeman, Chris Kukulski, said the city would stop the practice immediately: "Effective at 12:00 p.m. today, Friday June 19, 2009, the City of Bozeman permanently ceased the practice of requesting candidates selected for city positions under a provisional job offer to provide user names and passwords for the candidate's Internet sites."
The incident has given Kukulski his 15 minutes of fame. Try a Google search for "Chris A. Kukulski" and you'll see. As for the passwords the city has already collected, they will remain the "confidential property" of the city.
The "Montana News Station" ran an on-line poll (polls of this nature are essentially useless because they do not poll a scientifically selected cross-section of the population). The question: "What do you think of the City of Bozeman requiring job applicants to provide social network site login and password information?"
- 99% oppose
- 1% support
- 1% don't care
The poll sums to 101% because of rounding errors.
The author's image: It's that photo over at the right. This explains why TechByter Worldwide was never on television, doesn't it?
