jesse – Stay N Alive

Has It Really Been a Year?

Jesse First BirthdayExactly 1 year ago yesterday (the 19th) my baby, Jesse Stay III, was born.  As our fourth child, we decided we would have a little fun with it, and we Twittered the entire experience, shared the first cries (with an idea from Scoble), and even Ustreamed right before and right after the event.  You can watch our very first few minutes with him here.  According to Ustream, he was just the second baby birth ever Ustreamed on the site.  Since then, there have been many more.  I also believe he was one of the first (I’m pretty sure Scoble was the first) babies to be Twittered throughout the entire experience. You can see all of that here.

Little would we know that just a few months after his birth, his namesake, my Grandfather (and my namesake), would pass away a few months later after he was born, and subsequently his Great-Grandmother as well.  His name was well fitting, and timely, and we’ll always have stories to tell him as he grows older.

Since his birth, we have recorded his life on SmugMug, Flickr, Facebook, and streamed the entire experience through FriendFeed, and various bursts on Twitter. He has become the subject of several cute photo posts on this blog.  I hope he is able to appreciate this live history we are giving him, as he truly grew up in a time where his life could be documented live, as it happened.  I still continue to do that, in a more private manner, for my older children.

His is a special generation. At one year old, who knows what the world will be like in 17 more years when he gets to leave the home and go out on his own.  I’m looking back and 17 years ago I didn’t even have internet, and cell phones were not to be found. It’s amazing what can happen, and I’m excited to document it and help others understand it as it happens.  Baby Jesse, one year may be a life-time for you, but an entire generation awaits!

I Changed My Twitter Username – How You Can Too

For those that follow me on Twitter, be sure to look for me now under the username, “Jesse” (or @Jesse in Twitter speak). If you’re already following me, the transition should have occurred seamlessly, and you shouldn’t have to re-follow me. If you have me in a TweetDeck Group or similar 3rd party app, you may want to update me there. I have created a new account under my old username, “JesseStay“, just in case anyone has anything pointing to that username still. It just sends people back to this account.

You Can Too!

Making the switch was easy! And it serves as some great Google juice for my first name – maybe I can finally achieve my dream of beating Jesse McCartney as the number one spot on Google! To get the name you want, assuming it’s already taken, verify that there haven’t been any updates for over 9 months on the name. Then, send an e-mail to username@twitter.com – you’ll receive a support e-mail back, asking you some more questions. Answer those questions, and wait a few weeks. Assuming someone hasn’t already beaten you to it, you should be set!

Update Your Third Party Sites!

Now that you’ve changed your username, you may want to go back and create the old account, and put a post, pointing it to your new name just in case. Then, be sure to go to sites like SocialToo.com or clients like TweetDeck and update your username there, as many sites will still think you’re under the old username. It will take some work, but if you really, really want that new name, it may just be worth it. Oh, and change your passwords to something strong! If you have a common first name, you will now be one of the first to be targeted in a hacker attack. Good luck!