Home Sick (coloradan)

Once upon a time, you got sick and stayed home in bed, and were disconnected from the world.

After a week or two of that, you were dying to get out and see people again - be part of it.

I spent the day home in misery, a victim of a very nasty stomach flu thing.

And of course, not only did I IM with colleagues all day, I stayed on video chat with my wife for hours (something hard to do when you're at work).

But the best thing was viewing the map, above.

I've never felt so connected with the state of Colorado.

2007: Where's My (social network) Yearbook?

I made some really fantastic friends in 2007 -- online. Cre8Buzz, MyCupid, WAYN, FaceBook, MySpace, to name a few, not to mention MeetUp -- all yielded new relationships which I continue to enjoy and am thankful for.

2007 was many things social, and in the bigger picture, I see a few reasons this feels more interesting (this year) than it might have otherwise:

> I changed jobs (from Denver to Boulder) and am thinking a lot about (offline) "social circles"
> My 20-yr high school reunion was an amazing experience, and not a day passes without me noting how it changed my perception of myself (..."Social Networks give us new pieces of ourselves" -- Stowe Boyd)
> I product-managed TWO social networks from scratch
> I joined 50+ social networks doing research and attended the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco (where I networked & LinkedIn with a myriad of new friends)

But the other night, hunkered down checking my messages on one specific social network, Cre8Buzz (full of middle-aged Internet professionals sharing photos of their children and asking each other to read our blogs...) I noticed that one person had changed his profile photo again.

"I liked his old photo," I thought to myself. "I'm sorry I don't have a copy of it, just for remembering."

Then it came crashing down on me: my god, all of this -- the dialog, the uploaded pix, the wacky comments... "will be lost (someday -- maybe by April!), like tears in rain" (to quote Bladerunner).

I stared at the monitor, at My Friends, scrolling up and down.

There was not time to lose: I began right-click-Save-Image'ing each friend's profile pic to, to, to... a New File, "Cre8Buzz.com, 2007."

Whew!

I've looked at that folder a few times since, scrolling through the pictures - each so familiar, at the moment. It's like one's sophomore year in high school: human, transformative, and brief.

How strange to be middle-aged and feel the temporality of relationships and existence. But by this time next year, we may have all migrated to a new generation of URLs. Like graduates.

I wish we could have a year-book, one where "threads" replace clubs, where avatars are the photos. And frankly, where we could sign each other's. BFF, Andy (or something).

(sniff, sniff)

2007 was a good year. Seriously, thanks guys.

Happy Birthday (email alerts)

Today is my birthday, and the last thing I expected was an email phenomenon. But as soon as my wife reminded me this morning, I found a variety of "Happy Birthday" emails from various social networks in my inbox. No, not from people in those networks, but from the automated alert systems. Several were surprisingly tailored to me.

My favorite has got to be from "Where Are You Now" (wayn.com), because the name suggests the midlife crisis I'm avoiding. (It's actually a travel site.)

Flickr wished me a "glitter-filled day," linking to user contributed content (example image above).

Thinking about how birthday alerts SHOULD work, there's always Plaxo: addressbook integration across Gmail, Yahoo, AIM, Outlook, etc -- with built-in 2-week reminders of birthdays for anyone you have a date for. It also offers electronic cards, and will send them on the right day.

Unfortunately, the 2 experiences I've had with Plaxo were... probably user error:
1.) I wished a colleague a birthday 2 weeks ahead of the actual day (and he was quite uncomfortable with it, since neither he nor I could figure out how Plaxo got the date in the first place),
2.) Plaxo wished *me* a happy birthday last week, stating it was the 16th (it's the 21st) (...increasingly unhelpful as I age).

My Great Grandpa lived to be 96, and talked about the first car he ever saw. I figure I've got about 55 more years of these birthday alerts. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

XO (as social hardware)

I've joked before about "social hardware" - devices that force us to meet people, like a 3-way plug adapter in an airport.

The XO is my new favorite example, though, because it's designed to network even in the absence of an Internet connection. That's right: it networks with other XO's, facilitating shared documents, collaborating on composing music, video conference, etc -- even if now one has access to the Internet. Add to that how if ONE of them does get a connection to the World Wide Web, then it shares that connection with all the others. (Community Wireless support is a pervasive, albeit quiet movement, it's true.)

As I tweeted Friday night, I drove home with the XO open, scanning for WiFi hotspots. From the freeway, I picked up the FlyingJ truckstop (it's router is named "FlyingJ"). And once into Denver, I pulled over at one point and counted around 40 networks (almost all of them locked). It was quite a show (image above).

I recently plugged my "Net2Phone" headphone/mike into my MacBook (with built in camera) and video-Skyped with a friend in Europe (for "free") that Net2Phone mailed me my headphones in 1998, I believe. Yes, 10 years of struggling to make video conferencing a reality in my life and the lives of the people around me.

The XO does it without even an Internet connection. Bravo.

Imagine a village or a school with a 100 XO's, and the ability to call up your friends or family and video chat. This may be the closest they come to having telephones in each house. How ironic I'll never meet 90% of the neighbors I see as icons on my, on this XO.

XO XO XO

So, the XO I bought is being passed from friend to friend. My objective in buying it wasn't to have my kids use it, or give it to a child in the US, but to help spread awareness among my adult friends in the Internet software industry - engineers, product managers and entrepreneurs.

...by handing it to them, and sending it home with them.
Letting them connect the hyperbole on the Web with a (Martian, plastic, inter-) face.

Maybe they will be more aware of this hardware experience and the community behind it, as it proliferates Internationally. Maybe they can contribute in some way. Who knows? It's so clearly a social experiment, this XO idea in general, unfolding even as I write.
I'll invite them to comment here after their turn, explain what they see in it, from their perspectives. And what they think.
Other XO news here.

Chrysler 300 Customization (and youtube event)

I posted yesterday about custom shoes, and noticed moments later this TV about customizing your Chrysler 300.

It turns out, it's a video contest as well, with a dedicated page on YouTube: YouTube.com/Chrysler300. (No, they don't give you your car if you win.) How crazy.
Ironically, though it doesn't show on this YouTube cut of the TV ad, the aired version ends with:
"Upload videos of your own customized 300 and your ride could get a place of honor at one of our events. (fine print: No purchase necessary...).
No purchase necessary?!
The complete rules are here, but don't clarify how to enter this contest without buying a car.
I hereby launch a spin-off contest, "Spin Your Neighbor's," where you customize a Chrysler 300 you didn't actually purchase. Go ahead and upload it as part of Chrysler's contest; we'll judge entrants there. ;-)

Custom Shoe (nation)

Customizing products on the Web for order and delivery has intrigued me from the git-go. From Cisco routers to Nike Shoes to VW Bugs... I'm pleased it flourished at least enough for me to lose track of the progress.
A quick survey this morning left me satiated, better-shoed, and even entertained.
If you click one link from this post, check out Puma's Mongolian Shoe BBQ (it rhymes; and, it's a stitch)...
MongolianShoeBBQ.Puma.com
If you click a second link, here is where I created my (totally awesome) Converse pictured above...
Converse.com
The level of interactivity involved, along with the emphasis on style, seems to lead everyone to use Flash. That's interesting if you think about more and more industries adopting (?) this means of customer engagement.
Well, Nike didn't invent all this of course. There was always the world of high-performance dance and heels. For a little less glitz but a lot more shoe, check out
ShoeUSA
The half-dozen others, in case you're dying to customize your favorite brand.
Vans (via GiftAmerica)
Reebok (RBK as their newer version of their name, aparently. RBKcustom.com as the website.)
Nike (interesting branding... NikeID.nike.com. So, Nike Identity?)
Etnies (interesting URL choice: ME.etnies.com)
Isn't it interesting how shoes feel like an appropriate way to differentiate ourselves - to rebel against standards, while still fitting in. Our own custom form of (whatever everyone is wearing...) Converse.
By the way, for custom t-shirts, jackets, coffee mugs, custom poster art, mouse pads, bumper stickers, etc etc... there's always Zazzle, "Infinite one-of-a-kindness."
One more way to visualize the Long Tail.
I'm still waiting for my custom pizza-for-delivery interface, though. If I find it, i'll link to it here:
http://del.icio.us/apckrd/custom_products(byWeb)