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WordPress “Socialize Me!” Plugin Connects Your Blog

Posted on January 23, 2008 by jessestay

I’ve recently been looking for better ways to connect my blog into the social sphere.Â I feel the easier my readers can connect with me, talk with me, ask questions, etc., the more personal my blog becomes.Â You’ll notice I’ve added some pretty little icons to the right that show the networks I belong to and, if you’re on them, you can meet me there.Â I will be adding more as I create new icons.

Today I came across a nifty new WordPress plugin from the guys at blah, blah! technology called Socialize Me!.Â Socialize Me! collects your user names and profile urls from about 20 to 30 different social networks, and then detects if the users visiting your WordPress blog belong to those social networks.Â If so, with some code you insert into your WordPress template, a message appears to those users notifying them that you also belong to their social network, inviting them to come visit you.

I have thus far been unsuccessful in testing this – I can’t tell if it’s because I already belong to the social networks, or if I’ve entered in the wrong information.Â If you visit the Stay N’ Alive blog and see a message inviting you to visit me on any of my social networks, please let me know in the comments below.Â You can try the plugin yourself at:

Â http://www.blahblahtech.com/2008/01/wordpress-plugin-socialize-me.html

How I use Google Reader

Posted on January 13, 2008 by jessestay

I’ve been on the Google Reader band wagon for a long time now. I currently subscribe to about 150 feeds, and I read or skim over probably near 1,000 or more feed items a day. Reading my feeds is how I stay up on the latest and greatest, and how I am able to give the best advice to my clients. Instead of me going to news, now the news comes to me, which, despite the amount of news I read in a day, has made me actually more productive.

Google Reader has recently added a friends feature. Now, all those on your GMail or Google Talk contact lists that use Google Reader will appear in a Friends list to the left of Google Reader. You can choose to turn your friends’ feeds on or off in the settings (upper-right of Reader), and even invite more friends to begin using Google Reader. As your friends “share” the feed items that they like, you also get to see what they are sharing. This feature in effect has actually started bringing me even more news. It will be interesting to see the SEO effects of this as people no longer subscribe to blogs, but rather rely on their friends sharing their favorite blogs with you. Personally, I think it will improve the odds, as now more people will see your blog due to the viral nature of this system, and more people in result will be persuaded to subscribe to your blog – this time through Google, improving the SEO chances of you appearing in Google personalized results for that individual.

Here’s how I use Google Reader. Bloggers may want to take note, as this could provide some tips as to how to further improve your posts to fit with the power Feed readers out there.:

Skim, Skim, Skim! – There’s no way I would get through all 1,000+ of my feed items if I read every single one of them. I skim over the headlines, and sometimes the content, then move onto the next item. Only if the article is important to me do I read the article in detail.

Learn the Shortcuts – There are 3 or 4 shortcut keys that are essential for me. I use the ‘j’ key to open the next item and mark it as read. I use the ‘k’ key to move back to the previous item. I use the ‘shift-s’ key combination to share the item I’m reading if I think those that are friends with me might be interested. I use the ‘s’ key to start items I want to “bookmark” for later – this is Google Reader’s equivalent to del.icio.us. I then use the ‘r’ key to refresh the list I’m on – I like to click on the link “x new items” and read through those. Then, when I hit ‘r’ to refresh, it only shows me the new items I haven’t read yet.

Add as many friends as you can – The more friends you have, the more information you receive. If a friend isn’t providing productive feeds, then perhaps you can take them off, but besides that, information is good!

Stay on top of your feeds – if you don’t check them several times throughout the day, they will build up, and you’ll be stuck spending an hour or two in the middle of the night catching up. I like to use my cell phone when I’m away from my computer to go through my feeds. Google has excellent mobile tools, and Reader is no exception.

Don’t use iGoogle – I was using this for awhile, and realized a) I couldn’t use the shortcuts, and b) I couldn’t utilize the sharing or starring features. Perhaps if they improve it I’ll go back.

Those are the strategies I use to read through my feeds in Google Reader. What strategies do you use? Please add me as a friend – you can either add me as a contact in Google Talk, or shoot me an e-mail and you’ll automatically be added to my Google Reader Friends. jessestay at gmail dot com

CrunchGear – That was Uncalled For

Posted on January 11, 2008 by jessestay

I’ve been straying away from mentioning religion on my blog for awhile. Partly because I deal with so many religions on a daily basis through my Catholic Facebook Application, Baptist Facebook Application, and recently sold LDS Application. I love religion, and have grown to respect all religions as I strive to make this business model flourish. Each religion has its own identity and culture, and everyone within that religion appreciates that religion as part of their lives. A Religion one belongs to is a part of that individual, something they can’t easily part from, and will stay with them to the end, whether they remain a part of it or not. There are true, sincere human beings within these religions!

CrunchGear, TechCrunch, and the Mike Arrington crew crossed the line yesterday in a bigoted article that defies and offends many of the culture Mormons and I would say even other religions and cultures hold dear. The article can be found here.

I don’t care what religion or culture you belong to (See phil801’s post where he compares their comments to “the gay person that’s interviewing after you”). I don’t care if you belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster for all I care. You were brought up in that religion or culture, you accepted that culture as part of your life. You love the religion or culture you are in and it is personal to you.

Now, imagine if instead of “magic underwear”, Devin and the crew at Crunch Gear were making fun of the “magic crucifix” that Catholics wear, or the “magic prayers” Evangelicals give to each other, or the “magic Turbans” Siekh’s wear, or the “magic yarmulke” that Jewish men wear, or the “magic Burqa” Islamic women wear. These are all very respectable symbols to their religion, part of their identity and culture that CrunchGear is making fun of by posting this interview. This interview is a symbol towards bigotry in America and we shouldn’t stand for it.

Michael Arrington and CrunchGear, I suggest an apology to the Mormons, and removal of the anti-Mormon comments on your blog. I don’t care if Penn Jillette or you guys started it. The fact is you have chosen to post an interview that is blatently bigoted towards a single faith on your site which has nothing to do with religion! As a religious person, or human being in general, I will be unsubscribing from CrunchGear, TechCrunch, abstaining from voting for the Crunchies altogether, and disassociating myself with any of the TechCrunch network. I hope my readers will as well until this is resolved.

(2008-1-11) UPDATE: Please join the Facebook Group, “Boycott TechCrunch!” here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7719689369

Stay N’ Alive Has a New Design!

Posted on January 8, 2008 by jessestay

I’m proud to announce the new design of the Stay N’ Alive blog. Yes, that is me on a Segway, a little slouched, but my real, geeky self, having fun. I’m tempted to subtitle the blog, “A Developer, Having Fun!” Really, that is what being a developer is all about – if you’re not having fun, find something else! I sincerely love what I do – at heart, I will always be a developer, a Geek at heart.

Another geek at heart, Bill Gates, gave his final keynote address at CES last night. He left a hilarious, yet touching video making fun of what his final day could be like. I have to admit, as a Linux and Mac user primarily (I use Windows for my Entertainment Center experience), I was a little choked up after this. I became a programmer because of Bill Gates, working on MS DOS machines, Windows 1 (came on a 5″ floppy), 2, 3, 3.1, and 95 way before I was ever a Linux user. I owe much of my experience as a programmer to this man – while we make fun of him, he is an inspiration to us all:

How to Create Your Own TV Channel for Your Blog

Posted on January 6, 2008 by jessestay

I’ve been considering doing this for awhile – we’ll see how long it lasts and when my wife puts an end to it. If you look in the upper-left corner of the blog, you’ll see the “Ask Jesse” Show stream. If I’m online, when you click play you’ll see me, live, as you are on the blog!

Here’s how I did it:

Create an account at Ustream.tv

Click on “My Shows” – there you can configure the look and feel of your show page if you want

Click on the “Go to Show URL” link next to the “Broadcast Now” button

You’ll now see an “Embed Stream” html snippet in the lower right of the page – copy this, then paste into your html layout for your blog

Click “Broadcast Now”, and you’re live for all your voyeuristic viewers to see!

The Camera I’m using is the Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX. It has great picture, includes a built-in microphone that detects how far you are, and the camera comes in with built-in software that follows where your face is (or two faces if you’re more than one person). I’m half-way across the room, and you can still hear me well, and the streaming results are almost real-time! (Scott Lemon says it took just 14 seconds from him Twittering to me saying I received the Twitter)

Some issues to watch out for:

Make sure you’re appropriate when your camera is on! Put a sign up or something reminding those entering the camera area that they are being recorded.

Be careful if you talk to sensitive business clients. You may want to mute, or stop the stream altogether so sensitive information isn’t broadcast out to the entire world

Be sure your router can handle the bandwidth. I use a Gigabit Linksys WRT350N Router, and my Comcast connection has 8 Mb down, and about 3 or 4 up (at times). Search for “Comcast Speed” in the search box in the upper-right for some tips on how to speed up your home internet

My big prediction for 2008 is it will be the year of streaming video, and you’ll see more and more people embracing such technologies. I think I’ll try this for a bit – I think this can be a great way to drive people to stay on your blog longer. People are naturally voyeuristic, and want to know more about the person whose writing they are reading. If they can actually see them and chat with them, they are likely to stay longer, bringing more traffic to your site.

Have a Merry, Social Christmas!

Posted on December 24, 2007 by jessestay

Merry Christmas to all my Stay N’ Alive readers! May your Christmas be a safe, comfortable, social, and happy Christmas. May your Christmas not be like the drunk guy that drove his car into my house the other day (he was okay, so is the house):

On a related note, is your Facebook app using this? (yes, I’ve confirmed it is a real tag!): http://www.jessestay.com/articles/2007/12/19/fbis-it-christmas/

Susan Reynolds, Blogger, Soon to be Cancer Survivor

Posted on December 18, 2007 by jessestay

I don’t know Susan Reynolds very well, other than our occasional chats on Twitter. She found me, actually, following me for my updates on BYU Football Games. I know she is a huge Ohio State fan, and she has been very vocal on Twitter. She is also very involved in Second Life. Overall, I think she is a very impressive lady I’d love to get to know better.

On December 6, 2007, Susan Reynolds found out she had Breast Cancer. It has been amazing to read her blog, and her Tweets as she goes through this ordeal. She is a trooper, that’s for sure.

For those unaware, my Grandmother died of Breast Cancer when I was about 12. Ironically, she was born on December 5th, just a day before Susan’s diagnosis. My grandmother was diagnosed several years before her death, overcame it (sort of) several times, but in the end, it took her. She was one of the greatest ladies I knew, early to bed, early to rise (my sister’s middle name is “Dawn”, named after my Grandmother because they were born on the same day), gave birth to 12 children (and raised them well!), always walked several miles each morning even in her old age, and loved every one of her 50+ grandchildren – I still have the sweater she knit for me when I was young, something she did for all of us. She too, was a trooper, and an amazing lady. I feel an obligation to show my support for Susan because of this, and hopefully encourage and inspire others to show their support.

This Friday, Susan is going in for surgery for her Cancer. In support, Twitter followers everywhere are showing their support by including peas in their avatar graphic on Twitter (Susan started it with a (clean) picture of her icing up her bruised areas with a package of peas). You can see mine in this post. If you use Twitter, and would like to show your support, please do so by editing your avatar, and notifying me in the comments (or just add me on Twitter). I’ll make sure Susan knows you support her. Let’s keep Susan in our prayers and show some support through our Twitter avatars!

You can follow Susan’s Cancer treatments through her blog at: http://susanreynolds.blogs.com/boobsonice/

Reminder: Utah Social Media / Facebook Developers Garage Tomorrow

Posted on December 10, 2007 by jessestay

I just wanted to remind everyone that the Utah Social Media Developers Garage will be tomorrow, December 11, at 7pm at the Twelve Horses offices in Draper, Utah. We will have the privilege of hearing from Jeff Barr, evangelist for Amazon Web Services who is traveling all the way from Seattle, about how Amazon AWS has been utilized in Social environments. After Jeff’s talk, we will be having a round-table discussion, where I would love to talk more about Google’s OpenSocial, and any other Facebook developments that have occured over the past month. Following the discussion we’ll get a tournament of Xbox 360 Dance Dance Revolution, Halo 3, and possibly Guitar Hero 3 going. Bungee Labs has offered to offer the snacks and drinks for the event. This should be our biggest event yet, so be sure to mark your calendars, and invite your coworkers!

We’d again like to thank Twelve Horses for hosting the event, and Bungee Labs for providing the food. Of course, I also need to make a shameless plug for my Social Media development and consulting company, currently called SNAPlic8 (we’re debating on our name still), who is organizing the event. The first 18 people in the door will get a cool Google-provided Google Code notebook to take notes in. We’ll look forward to seeing you there!

If you’re wondering where Twelve Horses is located, their address is:

13961 Minuteman Dr, Draper, UT 84020

View Larger Map

Basically, it’s off Bangerter on the East-side feeder that parallels I-15. The Twelve Horses office is located in a series of three buildings, in the middle building. Their office is on the left on the first floor, right as you walk in.