Why Twitter Can’t Yet Play With The Big Boys
If you have spent any time on Twitter you may on occasion get a ‘fail whale’ overload screen…. this is the very reason why Twitter cannot yet match it with the big tech companies.
Twitter is becoming an ever popular site of late. Barack Obama used it to aide his presidential campaign with great success. I have been using Twitter actively for the past few weeks (@kristoforlawson). It is a great site filled with many active users. However this popularity may well be Twitter’s big downfall.
What is the problem?
Suffering under huge strain from the number of people using it, Twitter often displays images of a ‘fail whale’ telling Twitterers that it is over capacity. Now for many people this might not seem like a huge issue, after all the site is back live generally within seconds, but for the success of a site like Twitter this creates a potentially massive problem. Read the rest of this entry »
If You Were A Crayon What Colour Would You Be??
Have you ever thought about what colour you would be if you were a crayon??
I was listening to the radio yesterday as they were running through some questions that people wanted to ask Andrew Denton (if you don’t know who he is, he is Australia’s answer to Sir Michael Parkinson). Now there were some very cool and interesting questions, however one which Denton mentioned specifically was “If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?”. In fact Denton said that it just blew his mind.
Now on first thought I figured, sure, as if that was a question that would be mind blowing. It’s such a simple question. However upon reflection it is not actually one which is so easy to answer.
My initial thought was I would be Red because that’s my favourite colour…. but there is so many more dimensions to the question.
Is choosing your favourite colour really the best choice?
It would be easy for me to answer the question with Orange as being my favourite colour.. however is that the right choice? Is the question much deeper than that? Read the rest of this entry »
Watch This: Lawrence Lessig At Web 2.0 Summit
This is one of the best presentations I have seen in a long time. Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law, copyright expert and author. He uses this talk at the recent Web 2.0 Summit to delve deep into several issues that have been affecting the world today.
Make the time to watch this video, it will be well worth it!
The Best Of Top 5 Lists With The New MakeFive
Ever wondered what the top 5 restaurant’s in your area are? Maybe the top 5 movies to see this year? How about the top 5 places to take a vacation?
Let’s face it, we all love top 5 lists. They help us decide what we want to purchase, where we want to go, who we want to support, what we want to watch, and just about everything else you can think of. They are part of our framework. We all love to know what other peoples favourite things, and interests are. That’s where MakeFive comes in.
What is MakeFive?
MakeFive is a social networking website based around the things we like. It enables you to make top 5 lists on any topic, and then share them with the world.
MakeFive is built by the team at smashLAB in Canada, and has been around since 2007. It has drawn a small crowd, with some very active members. I signed up to the site myself and after playing around a little I really like the ideas behind the site. There is a lot of merit in the creation of a site which actually serves a purpose.
However things are about to change a little.
The New MakeFive
MakeFive is about to get a facelift, along with some great new features.
Inspirational Youth Making A Difference In Botswana
Sometimes it is just time to have a fantastic story, on people who are doing practical things to change the world.
A team of youth from Australia recently travelled to Botswana to build an Orphanage. They are regular people doing something extraordinary for people who need it. It is fantastic to see people going out and actively changing the world! They are all truly inspirational people!
Check out the video below of their efforts, it might just bring a smile to your day.
Obama To Win US Election As Voted By Facebook
If you were wondering who might win the US Election it might be worth checking out Facebook Lexicon.
Lexicon evaluates all the terms being used on Facebook and then measures the positive or negative nature of the responses. So far it appears that Obama is well in the lead. More people are talking about him, and talking about him positively.
Check out the Facebook Lexicon page HERE.
[Via John Battelle via AMR]
BeatBots - The Coolest Robot Keepon Is Helpful For Autism
I was watching a video on Somewhat Frank about the Wired NextFest event where they showcase the future of the technology industry, and I stumbled across this really cool product.
BeatBots,created by Hideki Kozima and Marek Michalowski, are robots designed to replicated human movement in a simplistic form. They have many applications, however one of the main ones will be teaching Autistic children simple emotions, in an easy to understand form. Keepon is the name of the Robot and I must say it looks really very cool.
Keepon is reasonably small, all up, including the base station it is probably less than the size of a foot ball. It has cameras for eyes, and a microphone in its nose and can interact with people or objects which is sees.
Not only is Keepon great for children’s therapy, but it is a great source of entertainment. Keepon is capable of busting a move with the rest of you, and definitely moves better than John McCain and Barack Obama combined.
Prices for the robot will start at around $30,000 US, and will initially be aimed at research. However I think these robots could see a future in the living rooms of many homes. If the creators could get this down to a few thousand dollars I would love to own one myself. If not, I will settle for hopefully seeing one in the future.
Check out this video demonstrating Keepon - You Will fall in Love!
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Photo credit, JanneM
Reader Question: How Do You Organise Your Time?
Recently I have found myself wondering that very question. I must admit I like to dabble in a lot of things during my week.
Here’s a short list… Firstly I am studying for my second degree in Journalism…. I work as a Web Master for 3 days a week… I am trying to run this blog successfully…. I am in the process of designing a second blog (more on that next week)…. I help out with a student organisation doing PR and Web Support…. I have about 12 books from Amazon to read….. I have plenty of ideas for new website applications… I am getting into cycling quite regularly and am purchasing my 2nd bike since June….. (pause for breath)… and to top it all off I am learning to play Alto Saxophone and trying to teach myself guitar…. pretty full on huh?…. oh and I should probably mention I hang out with my friends and family as well.
My life at the moment is like a massive bowl of punch. There are plenty of things going into it, plenty of effort and determination… but in the end it’s still punch… it’s still all mixed together. It doesn’t feel like I am becoming an expert at any particular thing I am doing.
Obviously if I am ever to turn anything into a real success I need to learn how to focus enough time and energy on my goals. But how do I go about doing that?
I have had a few ideas. The first being to cut a few things out. I can quickly point to a few things which are easier to cut out, but there are a lot of things in that list which I need to spend time on. So maybe the real issue is how do I become more organised.
So that’s the question I would like to ask everyone, I would love to know your opinion.
How do you decide what to spend time on, and how much time to allocate to it??
Photo credit, tymesynk
3 Quick And Easy Steps To Tell Someone You Appreciate Them
After watching the great video on the importance of saying thank-you, I realised that this is one area where I fail. Sure I say thank-you all the time, but those people are not really the ones who are important to me. They are not people who I spend all my time with. They are people I meet in an elevator at work, or in a class at university.
While I do connect with some of them, the time I spend with them is very short. Most of my time is spent with family and friends. These are the people who deserve a lot more thanks and appreciation then I give. In fact I probably give those superficial friends more thanks and appreciation than my closest family and friends.
I know I’m not alone, I know many people struggle with this. So what can we do about it?? What can we do to let people know that we appreciate them?
Here are 3 quick steps that you can follow to let people know you appreciate them.
Step 1: Take the Time to Say Thank You
Ok it seems pretty obvious that it is important to say thank-you…. but how often do you actually say it?
I don’t mean saying thanks as an off handed remark. e.g ‘thanks for passing the salt’…. Read the rest of this entry »
Learning To Say Thank-You
How great does it feel when someone says a simple thank-you! It is one of the greatest feelings. It makes you feel wanted, needed, and loved. However we often don’t say thank-you to the people that really need it.
Check out this video of Dr. Laura Trice examining the issue, and take the time to say Thank-You to the people that matter.
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