Now using Disqus for comments

I have switched from Blogger comments to the DISQUS comment system. I've always disliked the Blogger system -- having to navigate away from the post -- and Disqus appears to work like other typical systems (WordPress, Moveable Type, etc.). Threaded converstaions are standard, and it's integrated into the blog page.

You can also track and follow comments, as well as rate comments to help make sure only "good" comments stay in the conversation. They also have a variety of widgets that make it easy to integrate certain features into other sections of the blog -- hopefully more on that to come.

The real draw, however? Stat porn. I have a dashboard at Disqus, and can view all comment-related statistics as well as moderate comments and users from there.

For anyone interested in trying it out, it appears to work with several of the top/popular blogging platforms: WordPress, Moveable Type, Blogger, TypePad, and Tumblr (!!).

Go for a tour and see for yourself. Pretty cool. Also, they support OpenID, so creating an account is easy-peasy.

eGov status updates via Twitter

I am immensely proud of the NIC portals taking the leap and adopting Twitter. We'll continue to think outside the box and figure out the best way to use this emerging technology, but for now we're off to a great start.

If you're on Twitter and interested in how governments are beginning to use this hybrid communication tool, get ready to hit the "Follow" button.

Colorado.gov - twitter - Web site
Idaho.gov - twitter - Web site
Kentucky.gov - twitter - Web site
Maine.gov - twitter - Web site
Nebraska.gov - twitter - Web site
RI.gov - twitter - Web site
SC.gov - twitter - Web site
Utah.gov - twitter - Web site
Vermont.gov - twitter - Web site

If there are other NIC portals using Twitter, please ping me. And also feel free to leave links to any egov- or government-related Twitter accounts in the comments. I'll update this post as they are received.

Some other notable states, agencies, officials, etc. using Twitter:

CA.gov - twitter - Web site (update: account has been deleted)
CA DMV - twitter - Web site
CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - twitter - Web site
CA Public Employees' Retirement System - twitter - Web site
ID Department of Finance - twitter - Web site
ID Department of Commerce - twitter - Web site
ID Department of Labor - twitter - Web site
IN Gov. Mitch Daniels - twitter - Web site
LA Gov. Bobby Jindal - twitter - Web site
MI Gov. Jennifer Granholm - twitter - Web site
MI Lieutenant Gov. John Cherry - twitter - Web site
Louisville, KY - twitter - Web site
Louisville, KY Events Calendar - twitter - Web site
RI State Council on the Arts - twitter - Web site

Quick list of federal government accounts (I'll flush this section out eventually):
USAgov, GovGab, and lots of NASA projects


Congress, etc.:
Roy Blunt (R-MO-7th)
John Boehner (R-OH-8th)
Dan Burton (R-IN-5th)
John Culberson (R-TX-7th)
Bob Latta (R-OH-5th)
Tim Ryan (D-OH-17th)
Jeanne Shaheen - Former Governor of NH and now U.S. Senator
Mark Ward - Former Governor of VA and now U.S. Senator

Sidenote: there are a lot of people using Twitter to campaign - this is only a list of people who are actually using it to communicate with constituents.


Last updated: November 18, 2008

Earth Hand

Yup, it's a Facebook quiz. Fortunately I didn't spam 15 people as requested, but only my 2 siblings. Sorry, guys.

Evidently, I have Earth Hands.

People with this hand don't like change. They tend to be slow in nature and have a strong affinity to nature and the bush. They are emotionally stable and make the best workers. Interesting is the fact that you often find successful artists and photographers with earth hands. Most people with trade jobs such as a carpenter have earth hands. People with an Earth hand usually like outdoor jobs, and prefer job security.

Money quotes:
- "affinity to nature and the bush"
- "emotionally stable"
- "prefer job security"

I'd say, in general, this is pretty spot on. :)

hippos and "hip" branding

Straight from a Hippo's mouth, originally uploaded by laurenz.

Late-night National Geographic discovery: hippos, whales, and dolphins are related. No wonder I've always had a thing for those three animals. And otters. I love otters.

Evidently hippos click and call underwater like dolphins & whales. Scientists tested their DNA and discovered that they all probably evolved from a hippo-like animal. Wild!

And yes, I know that the channel now goes by "NAT GEO" but I refuse to call it "NAT GEO". That's like giving in and calling Burger King "BK". I mean, I've certainly referred to McDonald's as MickeyD's, but they aren't about to change their branding just because that's catchy. (I hope.)

And in case you're sitting there wondering what the first hippowholphin looked like, Wikipedia has more info.

As indicated by the name, ancient Greeks considered the hippopotamus to be related to the horse. Until 1985, naturalists grouped hippos with pigs, based on molar patterns. Evidence, first from blood proteins, then from molecular systematics[8] and DNA [9] and the fossil record, show that their closest living relatives are cetaceans—whales, porpoises and the like.[10][11] Hippopotamuses have more in common with whales than they do with other Artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates), such as pigs, because the common ancestor of hippos and whales branched-off from ruminants and the rest of the even-toed ungulates. Thus, hippos are more closely related to whales than to other members of Artiodactyla. While cetaceans and hippos are each other's closest living relatives, their lineages split soon after their divergence from the rest of the even-toed ungulates.[12][9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus

Zappos.com and Twitter

Zappos.com is using Twitter. It's refreshing to see a company using Twitter "correctly" (IMHO, of course).

"Correctly" = an actual person committed to updating the account; not just a river of news; not simply re-broadcasting an RSS feed.

Super Mario and the miracle shot

For your reading pleasure: my crawl of the interwebs today.

And for your viewing pleasure: the first 20 or so photos in my flickr favorites.

Rock Chalk

Rock Chalk, originally uploaded by .Nida.

Feeling the Jayhawk love today.

In case you're not following NCAA men's basketball, my beloved University of Kansas Jayhawks won the national semi-final last night against the University of North Carolina (not to mention against KU's old coach of 15 years, Roy Williams)!

My dad has this same figurine, and I'm nearly positive it was my grandfather's. While none of the kids in my generation attended KU, the crimson & blue blood runs deep.

Here's to an amazing championship game on Monday night. It will definitely be one heck of a game as the two teams play very similarly and are really well matched.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!

Good People Day - April 3, 2008

Good People Day is a "flash holiday" (props to @pistachio for that term) started by Gary Vaynerchuk as a way to give a little back to the amazing people that inspire us, who we learn from, and love.

Listing all my Good People here would be impossible, so I've decided to limit my shout outs to people who've made an impact on my life in some way in 2007. As I just twittered, 2007 was the year I stepped out of my home office and into the amazing geek community here in SF. It was also the year that I finally put the SXSW deadline on my calendar and made sure to get a hotel room early so I had no excuse for missing it. I met so many wonderful, inspiring, and talented people at SXSW -- it's like a Good People meetup!

On with the post...

1st, my wife Anna (@abrownie), for being an amazing, righteous, huge-hearted, wicked smart, beautiful gal.

2nd, I recently twittered that I was having dinner with three of my favorite people in the universe. One was Anna, and the other two were Pippa (@drpippa) & Jodi (@jsperber). You two make life a little brighter.

3rd, the two main reasons I've been able to meet so many cool SF geeks this year: Citizen Space and Laughing Squid. I've met Scott (@laughingsquid) a few times, and his generosity to and passion for the techie community in SF is overwhelming. As for the folks at Citizen Space, all I can say is a big, huge Thank You. Getting out of my spare bedroom and my coffee shop office, and out into the world changed my life. Chris (@factoryjoe) never ceases to amaze me with his thought leadership and insight. And Tara (@missrogue) continues to be an inspiration and has become a good friend.

5 people I met & got to know a bit in 2007: Tara (@missrogue), Larry (@lhalff), Todd (@toddsieling), William (@v), and Colin (@cbrumelle)

5 Bay Area people I met in 2007 but hope to get to know a bit better in 2008 (i.e. concerts, dinners, parties & skiing/boarding in our future!): Willo (@willotoons) & Ali (@spangley) & Aubrey (@aubs) & Ryan (@rk), Daniel (@dburka), Juliette (@linoleumjet) & Mark (@trammell), Kevin (@kevnull) & Coley (@coley), Cindy (@cindyli), Kristy (@kristywells) & Chris (@chrisheuer), Andy (@andykaufman), Rob (@robknight), Tim (@planspark), and Matt (Kid Kameleon) -- Ok, I really cheated on that one.

5 gals I'd want in my corner on any project (who haven't already been listed): Erica (@ericabiz), Erica (@ericaogrady), Gwen (@gwenbell), Laura (@pistachio), Silona (@silona) -- and SO many more!

5 of my favorite new "conference friends"*: Andrew (@andrewhyde), Colin (@cdevroe), Marcus (@marcusnelson), Matthew (@organ_printer), Robert (@rhjr), Angela (@spunkygidget), Jacob (@jacobsayles) and the IndyHall crew (@alexknowshtml, @johnnynines, @themartorana, @dbanana, @designgeekgirl, & more) (cheating again, I know)

*conference friend = someone who would undoubtedly be a good bud if we lived in the same city; but since they don't, hanging out at conferences will have to suffice.

And finally, and not simply because we wouldn't be blogging, vlogging, and twittering about this if it wasn't for him -- Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee), you rock. It was excellent finally meeting you at SXSW and I truly hope to get to hang with you again soon.

Let the Madness begin!

Update 4/11/2008:
Not going to delete this post, but didn't realize the widget would go blank after the games were done. 'twas kinda cool, but a little pointless after all.

Austin-bound: SXSW Interactive

Yeehaw!

I'm off to SXSW for the first time. I actually never thought my first SXSW showing would be for the Interactive festival instead of the Music festival; but so be it. I'm psyched!

There are all kinds of SXSW calendars cropping up, but this one is my favorite: http://sched.org. I'll be attending all kinds of panels, book-readings, and parties. If you're curious, this is what I'll be snacking on for the next several days.

A heads up to twitter followers. If you are following me via SMS and you have a limited text messaging plan, I won't be offended if you turn it off for a few days. I'll be back to normal as of March 12th!

Also, a couple of notable events:

• Coworking Meetup @ Hotel San Jose, 3/7/2008 at 7:00pm -- RSVP @ Meetup, SXSWhere
  
• BarCamp Austin III, 3/8/2008 -- RSVP @ Upcoming, SXSWhere, Wiki
  
• Geeks Love Bowling, 3/9/2008 at 7:30pm -- the teams are full, but you can come cheer for Team "Flower Power"!

See you in Austin!