A few months ago Twitter finally turned on the ability for users to download their entire archive of tweets. It’s been a feature many power users have been longing for, and Twitter did a nice job with implementation. Rather than simply giving the user a JSON or XML dump, they build what amounts to be a self-contained web app of your entire tweet history. It actually doesn’t even need a server - it’s just a bunch of HTML, CSS and JavaScript files that your browser can handle all on its own.
It’s finally here! Google+ for Google Apps accounts is a reality!
I’ve been a Google+ user since it first launched, and I really like it. The only issue I had with it was that I couldn’t use my Apps account (which is the only Google account I use on a regular basis), and had to use a standard Gmail account instead. Big bummer, and it ended up keeping me from being very active on the service.
I got a tweet this morning from a Twitter account I didn’t even know existed called TwBirthday. The service apparently tracks when you signed up for Twitter, and messages you on your Twitter “birthday” - kind of a neat idea.
@cconover Happy 4th TwBirthday! You've been around since 21 October 2007! http://t.co/tf5ugZgL
— TwBirthday (@TwBirthday) October 21, 2011 Does this give me free reign to be a precocious and finicky toddler on the Internet?
I don’t typically like to do things like ask for votes or otherwise campaign for my own stuff on this site, but this one’s pretty big and I need your help. You see, Endras BMW in Toronto is running a contest to find a blogger to hire full time. In addition to the opportunity to try out a new & unique experience, the perks list is pretty significant. Plus, it’s great exposure & opportunity to make connections as I work to establish myself in this industry.
I realize that this is actually kind of old news (a week or so), but I still felt it was important enough to share with my readers that may not be aware of this feature, and the reason for needing it.
Facebook recently enabled the ability to use a persistent secure connection to their servers when accessing the Facebook site. What this means is that, once you turn it on in your account settings, all data sent between your computer and Facebook will be fully encrypted.
I’ve resurrected my use of Tumblr & will be using it from now on to post items of a more random & informal nature. I’m using it with a new domain: cconover.me. I’ll post things that I think are cool, weird, fascinating, exciting, or anything else I feel like sharing, as well as stuff I’m doing & have encountered.
How is this different from the blog on this site? Think of it like the difference between writing a letter & sending a text.
I recently learned of a clever plugin for WordPress that embeds tweets in an attractive, fully functional manner into a Wordpress post with just tweet URL. It’s called Blackbird Pie, and it appears to work really well. All you have to do is install the plugin & it adds a button in the native editor in WordPress. Click it, paste the URL to the tweet you want to include, and it does the rest.
A new service has shown up online geared entirely towards license plates - or rather, the cars & drivers to whom they belong. The basic premise is that people ought to be able to connect with fellow drivers/human beings through something unique & universally understood: the license plate on our car. BUMP is trying to capitalize on the ubiquity of license plates & cell phones to create a social network & communication platform.
In the early days of social networking (read: 2005) when it was starting to come mainstream, I was a skeptic. A couple of my friends had MySpace accounts & took great pride in customizing them and distributing their MySpace URLs. I thought it was a waste of time, and was still sitting behind the privacy curtain judging MySpace as a place for emo kids & pedophiles to hang out. To be honest, I still maintain that particular opinion about MySpace, but that’s irrelevant.
On recommendation/action of @AsianMartin the Twitter hashtag #BMWMonday, which has been used to connect a group of BMW enthusiasts on Twitter, is being renamed/regrouped under the new hashtag #BMWBunch. His explanation was the following:
There are other days than Monday, therefore I am labeling the #BMWMonday crowd the #BMWbunch , if ya'll don't mind. Pass it along.
— Martin G. (@AsianMartin) March 22, 2010 So…I’m passing it along. It’s a good point and a good idea, so let’s run with it.
