Todd Lyden

photo © 2008 Peter Gorges | more info (via: Wylio ) I've seen some posts lately about the expectations that people have about social media online usage. This started in part with @ambercadabra's post on reciprocity.  She rightly points out that the expectation of a follow or friend through Twitter or Facebook is not warranted. This is about expectation right? I responded to Amber 's idea here initially  but I've been seeing more and more talk about how to interact online. A recent great example is @webby2001 post on social media non-natives "not getting it."  The gist was users of  social media and everything that it entails need to see the divide or gap and acknowledge that just because the luddites aren't online isn't a reason to "educate" them. I think this still comes down to expectations. You really need to know why you are using social media, because your goal isn't always going to jibe with people you know online or ...

photo © 2008 Tambako The Jaguar | more info (via: Wylio ) I mentioned my five year old the other day and how I learn from her constantly. A scary but ultimately humorous event the other night illustrates one of her inherent strengths and weaknesses(and mine as well). I was at a meeting after hours when I got a text "E hit her eye on a cabinet, REALLY bad spill!!!" Hate those in any format, but text is the worst. I received another moments after, "She needs to talk to you." At an immediately appropriate moment, I got up out of the meeting to call home. My little trooper answered and in her sobbing explained that she hit her eye on the cabinet that we placed in the hall from her brother's room that is getting shipped off. I got on the phone with my wife and got the full story. She had a doozy of a black eye developing with a huge welt. Of course, the way it happened is the way ANY child gets hurt in such circumstances EXCEPT she rounded the corner after...

Thanks to Jessica Rodriquez over at Bubbalon!   @jessrod354  sent me some Bubbalon stickers! Here is the cute letter she handwrote! Bubbalon's integration with FourSquare got a good work up by Da Man, Damond Nollan here . I've been toying with it slowly but surely. It might help if it WASN'T just an iPhone app right now, but I digress. Here's the group of each of the five Bubbalon stickers. Now I just need to find places for them. I'm not sure there is much in my life that is ATROCIOUS :( but I'll see what I can do. If you are interested in getting some, hit Jess up on Twitter at jessrod354 or at @bubbalon - I'd bet she would LOVE to send you some. PS- Apparently Jess writes EVERYthing for Bubbalon, but if you love Etsy, so does she- see here! Related articles Bubbalon: Fun Ratings, Reviews and Sentiment Sharing (louisgray.com) Join the Land of Bubbalonians: Say What You Want, When You Want (downtheavenue.com)

Image via CrunchBase Let me preface my eulogy with noting my undying admiration and appreciation for nearly all things Google. I blog with Blogspot , I keep track of time with Google Calendars, and only recently started cheating on Google Docs with Dropbox . Google Buzz was announced with such promise and hope. Google has had many efforts to be "social," but Buzz seemed like such an opportunity to move forward. Sure there were some hiccups. You'd think that people would not mind sharing all their information given via their email usage to a new kid on the social block. Buzz got past that. Sure, it was tough getting along with Twitter and granted you NEVER got along with Facebook , but you were out here for us Google fans. Gmail was a trusted companion. But in the end, it may have contributed to your demise. People who roamed the social highways and byways just did not get that you were reliant on the email as your social graph, but most folks don't use it like that. ...

So I wanted to revisit an older post . I had written about "Absentia," an independent film that was using Kickstarter as a funding source. This has become a unique proposition for artists and folks with a short-term limited project. You can help fund a variety of cool and interesting projects, but actually get something for it other than the satisfaction of helping. Fallback Plans actually got 375 backers to pledge over $23,000 when they were only asking for $15,000. I'm not sure if it is something you would ever use, but isn't it great? I've looked through some of Kickstarter's projects and several folks are brutally honest about one of the issues that is not readily apparent. Kickstarter charges back on the credit card charges and does charge a fee- neither are surprising or deal breakers. If you have the means to go about asking anyone for money, do so, but this is a great method and allows for enforcement of the gifts given for donating. Here is...

Maybe it's just me, but this hoopla over Google creating an "Offers" or whatever they calling it alternative to Groupon isn't THAT big of a deal! See more here. If you have used Google Places, which allows you to pimp out your online Google listing that will appear in maps etc, then you should have seen this some time in the past: Mind you, if you click through and check out the Scribd  listing sheet or the Mashable story above, you'll see that Google has the same idea but probably done slightly better. Most folks are selling the Google team short saying they are getting into the game too late. This is Google people, who is better at online advertisings? Which is functionally, beyond the sales game of getting the deals, the only thing that makes Groupon stand out. I spoke before about how easy it would be for ANYONE to get into the local game . Google has a huge advantage. Low cost for the advertising, which is all anyone would need. Plus if they can offer bett...

I am such a sap for the first Scream movies. Saw each of them in the theaters. Yes, they decline in their value (not unlike the Star Wars prequels or the Lord of the Rings movies , oh yeah, I said it). MILD Scream SPOILERS (if you haven't seen them by now, perhaps you should just move on). But their comedy, direction, and generally decent acting made for some great stuff. Thankfully, they realized that Dewey was somewhat the heart and soul of the pic and did not kill him off in the first one. Killing Randy in the second was probably the biggest error of the entire series, but thankfully... we have SCRE4M... Enjoy Related articles "EXCLUSIVE: Clint Eastwood To Direct Beyoncé In Musical Version Of 'A Star Is Born'" and related posts (deadline.com) "Tron: Legacy" a Pre-Flop (kylesmithonline.com) Alt Text: An Open Letter to Hobbit Director Peter Jackson (wired.com)