Showing posts with label inclinations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inclinations. Show all posts

Monday, 2 November 2009

Twitter Apps - Seesmic and echofon

I currently have 3 twitter apps on my desktop: echofon (a Firefox add-on) which is great - simple and effective if you're into the "twitterstream" and not too worried about missing anything, while still providing effective monitoring of your followings tweets, RTs and DMs ; TweetDeck, which I'm currently using to manage my twitter identities to follow groups/cohorts of tweets; and now I'm also trying out Seesmic Desktop.

Originally released as "Twhirl", I've been using Seesmic Desktop application for a couple of weeks, and think it will be great for "intermediate" users who may have a couple of Twitter identities, but who don't need the "power user" features that TweetDeck provides, to manage multiple social media service accounts at Twitter, Myspace and Facebook.

And the folks over at Seesmic seem very proactive regarding user ideas and feedback.  (They also have an iPhone app and Web In-broswer service on the go).

Most of the ideas I'd like for Seesmic Desktop, that aren't already included, are under consideration; like upload and random schedule of multiple tweets (Oh - yes please!), UI customisation and a few other minor features (like repeat/recently used #hashtags).

My favourite feature so far, is the "sent' column, where all of my twitter accounts most recent tweets and DMs appear.  Great if you don't use DM a lot, but tweet heaps, and want to keep track of your more recent tweets at a glance.  Least favourite; getting followers who don't tweet much onto custom userlists.  It's a bit cumbersome at the moment, but looks like they're working on it.

Only potential downside I see, is inclusion of too many suggestions/requests, and bogging it down too much.

But overall, pretty happy so far.  So if you're looking for a new desktop Twitter app that can manange your multiple Twitter IDs and (presumably) Facebook accounts, then check out Seesmic Desktop.

Thursday, 24 September 2009

Affirm Humanity - Habitat for Humanity

Affirm Humanity - Habitat for Humanity

1.6 billion people around the world live in substandard housing.

Join with Habitat for Humanity (YouTube channel) as we build a new world.

Saturday, 23 May 2009

Affirm Humanity - Matt Harding

Affirm Humanity

Where the Hell is Matt?  (Web site)

Take only photographs, leave only footprints.*

My favourite Snoopy Dance moments.  (C'mon - doesn't it just perfectly look like a Snoopy Dance?) :
  • Kuwait City, Kuwait @ 0:42 - the obligatory dog!
  • DMZ, Korea @ 1:55
  • Tongatapu, Tonga @2:21
  • India - @2.36.  Matt, you've got some serious Bollystyle!
  • Tel Aviv, Israel @ 3:42
  • East Jerusalem, West Bank @3:45
  • Nellis Airspace, California @ 3:55.  You lucky dog!
* With permission, where permitted.




Matts' YouTube Channel

Comment Invited.  Who would you like to see included in Affirm Humanity? Help build the Affirm Humanity collection by suggesting your favourite affirming humanity moment.

Friday, 17 April 2009

My favourite Twitter tools

So, I've been spending more time than I should tweeting, but it's all research.  For clients.  Really.

Anyway, as lists seem to be a popular blog post option, here is my contribution to the ever growing Twitter tools collection, of those I'm currently using, to my endless amusement and wastage er..., use ... good, solid research type use, of time.

  1. Twitterfox (for Firefox users who don't want to install TweetDeck)
  2. Twitter Analyzer
  3. Twist - see trends in twitter
  4. TweetStats :: Graphin' Your Stats
  5. Twitoria - How Many Twitter Friends Are You Really Following?
  6. Twitterholic.com  I'm King of the World!

Search for Twitter in All Places on Yauba.com (my latest favourite search engine that isn't Google.)

Saturday, 14 March 2009

Palestine 09

"They stole my land, burnt my olive trees, destroyed my house, took my water, imprisoned my father, killed my mother, starved us all, humiliated us all. But I am to blame : I shot a rocket back. So they stole more of my land, burnt my olive trees, destroyed my house, took my water, bombed my country..." Palestine09

Featuring words partly inspired by one of the hundreds of hand-written anonymous placards carried at the Jan 3rd demonstration in London our Palestine 09 design expresses vividly the cycle of despair that has turned the tiny Gaza strip into a war zone of Israeli reprisals using its overwhelming military might. JUST £16.99!  Helping to raise funds for the Viva Palestina aid convoy to Gaza.

Buy this T-Shirt

Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Chirpy Cheep, Twitter Tweet

Forgive me blogosphere, it's been two months since my last post.

I've been .... busy.  No, I'm not seeing anyone else, honest.

Just business.  You've met him you know.  Look, he's standing right over there.

He looks taunt and trim?  Of course, you look fantastic too, dear.

No, I'd never leave you, darling.

Look, I know you're feeling hurt and a little neglected right now, but I promise, I'll be more supportive.

When?  Uh, well, how's right now?

What?  You don't think I'm really trying?

Uh .... hang on a second will you?
I'll be with you in a minute ... promise ....

I'm just checking my Tweetstats and Twitterholic ranking.

No!  I swear, you're the only blog for me.

Thursday, 25 December 2008

The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard web font sizes

Gulp. Why is it that the things that make sense are foreheard slapping moments?

Sigh ... back to style sheet revamp basics.

Information Architects » Blog Archive » The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard
The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard

Most websites are crammed with small text that’s a pain to read. Why? There is no reason for squeezing so much information onto the screen. It’s just a stupid collective mistake that dates back to a time when screens were really, really small. So…

>> Read more here.

P.S.  Seasons Greetings and have a happy new year.

Wednesday, 10 December 2008

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!

If you're feeling great today, you may end up inadvertently spreading the joy to someone you don't even know.

New research shows that in a social network, happiness spreads among people up to three degrees removed from one another. That means when you feel happy, a friend of a friend of a friend has a slightly higher likelihood of feeling happy too.

Happiness is contagious in social networks - CNN.com

I can hear the conversation now ... "But Mom, research shows my facebook, myspace, youtube, twitter, blog and [insert other social media obsessions here] is good fo my health."

Sunday, 7 December 2008

India lands a craft on the moon

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, this little achievement seems to have slipped between the cracks, or is it a case of "no pictures - no coverage" deemed worthy?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | India sends probe on to the Moon

India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft, Chandrayaan 1, has sent a probe on to the surface of the Moon.

Timeline: How Chandrayaan-1 reached the lunar orbit and then sent the moon impact probe (MIP) with the colours of the Indian national flag painted on its sides to the lunar surface.  Link >>

Wednesday, 12 November 2008

Square Kilometre Array

Australia's getting (fingers crossed) a BIG telescope!  Woohoo! 

From the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr 11/11/08.

Australian square kilometre array industry consortium >> Press Release
 ...

The Commonwealth is totally committed to Australia’s SKA bid, and it’s not hard to understand why.

The SKA is a huge economic opportunity – a $2 billion opportunity – and we’d be foolish to ignore that.

But it is also a great scientific opportunity, a great innovation opportunity – an opportunity to revolutionise Australia’s technological capabilities and the world’s understanding of the universe.

This is a project to fire the imagination, and I have no doubt that your presence here says as much about your spirit of adventure as it does about taking care of business.

The SKA is one of the largest mega-science projects ever conceived:

• comparable to the Large Hadron Collider outside Geneva

• comparable to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor under construction in France.

It has ambitious scientific goals, ambitious technical requirements, and an ambitious lifespan.

Are the times right for this kind of ambition?

I think they are. ...

Australian square kilometre array industry consortium >> Press Release

Wednesday, 5 November 2008

US Presidential election ... be careful what you wish for ...

How important to the rest of the world is this US Presidential election?

As I read this NZ Herald story online, the TV is on downstairs and we here in Australia have blanket live coverage of the US Presidential election results on four of the five free to air channels.

Tracey Barnett : Obama's dream will seal the deal - 05 Nov 2008 - NZ Herald: Opinion

I have been waiting for eight long, dark years to be able to write a column that can talk about what's right with America instead of what's wrong with America.

I need to wake up tomorrow morning and hear that the United States has chosen to create a better history.

Under the disastrous administration of George W. Bush, America has become a nation I can hardly recognise.  ...

The truth is, I am afraid. I am afraid to put so much hope in just one man. Since the day Barack Obama won the primary in Iowa, my secret threefold prayer has been: let him get the nomination, don't let him get shot and don't let him become Jimmy Carter once he's in office.

If an Obama presidency is smothered by the mess he will inherit (and the presidency could well be for whomever takes office next) at least he will have given us something America desperately craves today - the possibility of renewal. I believe they call that hope.

Well Tracey, I think that's how many of us outside the US are feeling too, and ... it's sounding like a landslide, with unprecedented turnouts at the polls, and punishment of the incumbent Republican administration; Republican state governors are losing en masse, the US House of Reps and Senate are both already shaping up as overwhelmingly Democrat dominated houses.

And therein lies the rub. So much hope, so much promise. Now they're going to have no-one to shift blame to.

Hit the ground running people, and fasten your seat belts folks - it's going to be an exciting ride!

Monday, 27 October 2008

Congratulations India!

October 21, 2008 will go down in the history books as a Red letter Day for India.

1. Indian Moon Launch
India Launches Unmanned Orbiter to Moon - NYTimes.com

By SOMINI SENGUPTA, Published: October 21, 2008

NEW DELHI — India launched its first unmanned spacecraft to orbit the moon early Wednesday, part of an effort to assert its power in space and claim some of the business opportunities there.

The Indian mission is scheduled to last two years, prepare a three-dimensional atlas of the moon and prospect the lunar surface for natural resources, including uranium, a coveted fuel for nuclear power plants, according to the Indian Space Research Organization.

>> Full Story


2. Beats Australia at Cricket!

Zaheer inspires India to inflict heavy defeat on Australia

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday October 21 2008 09.46 BST

India (469 and 314-3) beat Australia (268 and 195) by 320 runs!

"I've never seen anything like that," said India's stand-in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni when asked about Australia's performance. "Especially at one time in the first innings, they were 22 from 13 overs. I said to Rahul Dravid, 'look at the board, we won't see that again.'

>> Full Story

3. Reopens Kashmir border crossing with Pakistan closed since 1947!

India, Pakistan open trade route across Kashmir

San Jose Mercury News, USA.

The Associated Press: Article Launched: 10/21/2008 05:54:29 AM PDT


SALAMABAD, India—Trucks laden with fruit, honey, garments and spices crossed the heavily armed frontier in the Himalayan region of Kashmir on Tuesday as India and Pakistan opened a trade route between the two sides of the divided region for the first time in six decades. "I was 12 years old when I last saw baskets of fruits being packed to be sent to Rawalpindi," said Haji Abdul Ahad Bhat, a 74-year-old apple farmer from the Indian side, referring to a Pakistani city near the capital, Islamabad.

>> Full Story


DW-World: Asia News 21 October 2008 15.30 UTC >> Cite

India and Pakistan have started bilateral trade in the divided region of Kashmir for the first time in six decades.

A convoy of 13 trucks carrying mostly fruit left for Pakistani-administered Kashmir from the Indian-zone on Tuesday, while 14 trucks packed with Pakistani fruit made the journey in the opposite direction.

Calling it a historic event, the governor of Indian–administered Kashmir, N.N. Vohra said the move would help boost the economy in both parts of Kashmir. For his part, Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, the premier of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, said that he hoped the event would assist in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

The two South Asian rivals, which both claim Kashmir in full, have fought two wars over the territory since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.


You See? Sometimes the news is good, we just have to be paying attention.

Thursday, 9 October 2008

How often do you say "Thank You"?

In this deceptively simple 3-minute talk, Laura Trice muses on the power of the magic words "thank you" -- to deepen a friendship, to repair a bond, to make sure another person knows what they mean to you. Try it. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 03:34.)  (Thanks to TED.com)


Saturday, 20 September 2008

Salaam, Shalom, Shanti, Mir, Friede, Pax, Paz, Peace

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations as an annual observance of global non-violence and ceasefire. Every year, people in all parts of the world honour peace in various ways on 21 September.

International Day of Peace, 21 September 2008

Salaam, Shalom, Shanti, Mir, Friede, Pax, Paz, Peace

Links of interest:

Roots & Shoots (Goodall Institute) Each year, in support of the United Nations International Day of Peace, Roots & Shoots members and friends come together to promote peace. All over the world, young people craft Giant Peace Dove Puppets from reused materials and fly the Doves in their communities. From the high peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro to the low plains of Kansas, Peace Doves fly, held high by hopeful hands.

Peace is Hard ...

Tuesday, 15 July 2008

Bartlett's blog post about blogs

"Andrew Bartlett has been active in Australian politics for over 20 years, including serving as a Senator for Queensland from 1997-2008. He started this blog in 2004. It reflects his own views and thoughts, independent of any political party or organisation."

High value blogs - a human rights example


... there is plenty of overlap and we’re really just talking about people writing words and providing information and/or opinion. It’s the content that should matter, not the label attached to the provider of the content.

The credibility and value of those words is up to the reader/consumer, and they will usually assess its credibility based on their own judgement as to whether they think the person writing it knows what they’re talking about. But one aspect of the blogosphere which I find gets insufficient recognition is just how highly credible and skilled some of the bloggers out there are, and how useful their material can be.

Friday, 11 July 2008

The state of the Web Summer 2008

One out of eleven ain't bad ....

The State of the Web Summer 2008

Hey, I've even seen the page in a reasonably timely .... time.

Saturday, 28 June 2008

In the still of the night

I often walk outside at night, usually during the ad breaks on telly (getting more frequent and interminably longer on the commercial free to air networks), to see how many meteors I can spot (7 in 15 minutes last night), how many different frog calls there seem to be (5), and generally just to "commune with nature".

It's fortunate that we live on acreage far enough away from "civilization" to not have much in the way of light, air or noise pollution, but at this time of year, with the inversion layer, sound travels more easily, so I usually get treated various neighbours' taste in music ('60s and '70s folk rock this time), diesel generators, dogs barking and vehicles returning home along the network of gravel roads.

In between human activity, I can make out nature sounds from native critters like flying foxes chattering noisily when they've discovered some blossoms or seeds, bats - with their echo location (which is pretty amazing when one zooms past close to your head!) owls, frogmouths and other nocturnal birds, possums scooting along the branches in the canopy, and padymelons and bettongs foraging in the undergrowth and keeping the grass short.

But every now and then, there is no sound .... not even the wind blowing through the leaves.

It is completely and utterly still. Completely and utterly silent.

There is only my breathing and heartbeat, or tinnitus. Instinctively, I begin to breathe more evenly, deeper, relaxing into calm.

Then .... the wind picks up, a bird calls, a dog barks. The spell is broken. I return indoors.

Monday, 22 October 2007

It's just a jump to the left and a step to the right ...

So here's an Oz politics political inclinations (in beta testing) result for moi. Surprise surprise, NOT! Good to see an Aussie version. Now go have some fun of your own. ;-)