Links and Random Stuff: October 8, 2009

There is no category for this post. So be it.

We're gonna throw some links into this one. Going to talk about some "random stuff." Just gonna ramble because that's what I feel like doing. I don't like rules. I live dangerously. Never mind that I set the rules.

Twitter Trepidation
I don't even know if this makes sense, but I liked the way it sounded. Anyway, still trying to get myself grounded on Twitter. I'm in that no man's land that is pretty freaking frustrating. I get Twitter. Really, I do. I at least 95% get it -- I realize there's a "club" that's been around for two years, and you really don't get it the way they do. So whatever. I pretty much get it.

But I only recently started committing myself to it. And I gotta tell ya, there are some growing pains. I moved around a lot as a kid, and I compare this to that experience. I'm not out to impress anyone. But, I realize I'm the new kid, so I still need to exert myself to try and start some friendships.

See, the problem is that, although I have 500 Facebook friends, the number of people I know well -- who I really consider a friend -- who also use Twitter can be counted on one hand. Based on the numbers I've seen, this isn't a consistent phenomena. There should be more.

I have a very active Facebook life. Freaking love Facebook. Manage the hell out of it. And trying to start a parallel Twitter life with different "friends" is not easy.

I'm butting into discussions. I'm following the right people (I think). I'm trying to be helpful. But, for the most part, it just seems like I'm talking to myself and being a nuisance.

I'm not giving up yet, far from it. I realize it's a process. But seriously, it's no fun being the new kid, especially when you know you have something to offer. I know, Mom, people will like me eventually. I don't need to be liked. I just want to be part of this community. If you aren't part of it -- if all you're doing is talking to yourself and listening -- the value drops off quickly.

Even still, I gotta admit that I freaked out a bit when Twitter froze up today. Am I the only one this happened to? Or did the people I'm following simply stop providing updates? Was there some sort of nuclear bomb I should know about? I guess it's possible that if we were bombed -- but it somehow missed Denver -- I wouldn't get that update in my Twitter stream.

Sure enough, trending topics eventually reflected that I'm not the only loser with this problem.

But, this proved to me that I do have some sort of connection to Twitter. I don't know how strong it is yet. It's all about relationships, so considering I have none it's pretty weak. But I'm trying, people. I'm trying.

I just don't want to be that dork who tries too hard. Really don't want to be that guy. Never been that guy. I'm not the jackass who expects everyone to like him either, but I'm not going to waste too many weeks without some sort of payoff.

But ultimately, it's not all about me (queue the music). I want to know all there is to know so that I can be as dangerous as I can possibly be in the battle against cancer. Ultimately, I want to dominate with American Cancer Society's social media strategies.

Of course, according to @Pistachio and @Havi (ah, crap, did I just @ people away from Twitter?), there is no "strategy." Your strategy should be no strategy. I've been pretty good at that so far, but with little success.

It's early though. I'm an impatient dude. I'll ride it out a while longer.

10 Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About
This would be pretty funny for those people who actually have people who read their stuff.  Am I feeling bad for myself?  My fault.

Anyway, still somewhat humorous.  What's funny is that I see this stuff all the time.  I'm glad they added #2 Social Media.  Basically, this is for people who constantly talk technical social media crap.  It gets old and boring.  I know, you are a guru.  Enough already.

Even though I'm not really "one of them" yet, it still made me laugh.  There was a similar article about Facebook users that hit much closer to home, but I'll whip this out a few months from now and it may get better with age.

Babe Ruth the Way You’ve Never Seen Him Before
This is fan-freaking-tastic, people.  Now, maybe you don't get into baseball history the way I do (most don't).  But I loved this article.  It actually took me back to my NBA days.  Coincidentally (I guess), Major League Baseball Productions and NBA Entertainment are both located in Secaucus, New Jersey.  I remember walking the halls of NBAE and seeing people digging through old video the way they do in this article.  Some resonating and such here.  Good stuff.

I'm sure not everyone gets all excited about a grainy video that purportedly shows Babe Ruth striking out looking and arguing with the umpire, but this seriously made my day.

That iPhone App
I'll be bugging you people a lot about this app.  It's on my brain right now.  It's a first of many.  It's the first iPhone app I've ever been involved with (first mobile app, to be honest).  It's the first iPhone app ever created for the American Cancer Society.  And it's my first big project release for ACS.

It's an exciting time.  And I am absolutely giddy that this app is going to be sharp and fantastic.

At times, I miss being in sports.  However, I don't when it comes to this project.  I think back to being responsible for redesigns or launches of new games, and there is nothing you can do about the launch date.  You can push it back a little, but it's gotta launch.  The season isn't moving.  Ready or not.

With this?  I'm going to make sure it's perfect.  And luckily (and thanks to Welikesmall), it is already looking pretty damn good.

It'll probably be called More Birthdays, consistent with the MoreBirthdays campaign.  American Cancer Society is, after all, the official sponsor of birthdays.  Have you seen the commercials?  I'm sure you have.  Great, great campaign.  Want to do all I can to build on it.

Maybe these commercials don't hit home for you the way they do me.  Maybe they do.  I honestly tear up every time I see one, particularly the one scene in the 60-second commercial where kids are running out to their bouncy houses for a birthday party.  It absolutely rips me up.  My son Michael is now eight years old and has been cancer free for a little over five years. 

ACS, like many non-profits, is feeling the sting of a tough economy.  People are cutting back, and that means they are donating less.  Not to mention, estates that are donated take a significant hit since their value is based on investments.  We've had layoffs.  A lot of them.

I feel a great deal of pressure -- all placed on myself -- to make this project a success.  It's going to happen.

First step is a board meeting this weekend.  Presentation is prepared.  Can't wait to show the board members what we've been working on.  Then, very soon, we'll be launching this baby to the public.  It will be free.  And I hope that you'll add it to your application rotation.

Technology: The 10 iPhone Apps I Use Most

Updated 10/20/09 (Tweetie 2 replaces Simply Tweet as #6)

First, let me get this out of the way early. I don't have an iPhone. I have an iPod Touch. However, to be accepted with the cool kids, I'll just call these iPhone apps. They are. They're also iPod Touch apps, but no one seems to care.

Something to keep in mind, though, is that any apps that utilize GPS or a microphone (not that this adds all that much to apps) won't be found on this list.

I also have a Blackberry, but come on. Those apps are terrible. Just installing an app or accessing one ends up being a chore. Poor graphics, poor performance. Would be nice if it were 2001. It's not.

So, following are the top 10 apps that I currently use. You'll notice some themes here.  Not surprisingly, I like sports apps -- there are three in the top 10 and five in the second group.  I also like casual games -- two in the top 10 and eight in the second group.  The apps with staying power, though, tend to be those that have utility.  The Facebook app isn't going anywhere.  Same for TextFree, and I'll likely always have a Twitter app in this list (which one it is may change).  Hopefully, the More Birthdays app will also have the same level of utility.

This list is always in flux, so I've also included the apps that may have recently fallen out of the top 10. I'll try to keep this list updated on the home page as often as possible -- or as often as I start favoring other apps.

1. More Birthdays - Great app from Welikesmall (the company that built the Magic Coke Bottle) and American Cancer Society. I may be a little biased on this one (just a tad) because it's my baby. Will be released soon. Awesome birthdays manager with solid graphics and push notifications to remind me to send birthday greetings through the app to my friends.

2. Facebook - Pure genius. I can't stand a web companion that doesn't offer you all -- or close to all -- of the tools available on the web. Beautifully designed, nice organization, great performance, everything I need. And don't get me started on the Blackberry Facebook app.

3. Textfree - Beautiful. I don't have a favorable texting plan, so I was thrilled to discover that such an app exists. Saved me a lot of money.

4. Euchre! - Am I the only one who wasted hours upon hours in college playing Euchre? Even played in the Yahoo! Lounge back in the day as well. You don't play live players, but you can kill a lot of hours playing this game. AI is good overall, but it drives me crazy when my partner will lead with the big dog when it's their only trump and our opponent called it. That's my biggest beef.

5. Yahtzee Adventures - Yahtzee! I have perfected the game by playing this over and over again. Lots of strategy involved in this mathematician's classic. Can play friends, or play in an "adventure." In the end, I usually just play quick games. Only complaint is that they should keep track of ALL of your best scores, not just your very best score. I have a score in the 600s that I know I'll never beat, so it's tough to keep motivated to play.

6. Tweetie 2 - Alright, so I had Simply Tweet here in this spot last time, and then Tweetie came out with their second version.  I still wish that Tweetie (man, I hate saying "tw" words) would have push notifications, but the beauty is that I keep my Simply Tweet notifications on and use Tweetie 2 for updates and whatnot.  And I find Tweetie 2 to be much deeper in terms of types of information that can be accessed than Simply Tweet.

7. Sportacular - The fellas at Citizen Sports put this one together. For whatever reason, good sports scores apps are hard to find, but this one seems to do the trick.

8. MLB At Bat - My favorite app of all time, but the regular season is now over so my time using it will diminish greatly. Not much the people at MLB can do to make this one better.

9. ToDo - Nice little utility. Pretty steep price, but I found it useful when I was putting together lists of things to do around the house.

10. Yahoo! Fantasy Football - Still a bit buggy, but it's a new app. Very clean interface, and Yahoo! is always ahead of the curve. They'll come around.

Former favorites that have fallen off the list:

The Weather Channel
Tweetie
Simply Tweet
Echelon
Monopoly Worldwide
Scramble2
Sudoku
Flight Control
Flick Fishing
100 Pushups
200 Situps
CNN
MyFantasyTeams
Price is Right
MLB Power Pros
Rotowire
ESPN Scorecenter
Home Run Battle 3D

So what else am I missing?  Let me know what apps you're using.