Valley Tech Talk
Updates from March, 2009 Hide threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Join me on Valley Central's blog, Valley Tech Talk
shaine
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Godaddy Drops the Ball
shaine
I’ve been hosting with Godaddy for a while, maybe over 2 years. They used to be pretty good about taking care of stuff. In fact, they used to call me on occasion to make sure everything is OK. Something must have happened because they are just not able to take care of things as quickly as they used to. My hosting account went down for 3 days and according to customer service, it wasn’t even touched by the escalation team. Oh, and when they escalated, “it could take 24 to 72 hours”. Definitely not cool.
As a result, I decided to move my blog to WordPress.com and accept the themes available. I’m setting up hosting for other domains too, which is not exactly easy as I still have to deal with aliased domains to Godaddy servers. They also control my domains. I’m still trying to work with them. I purchased another hosting with Godaddy to get around waiting for their tech monkies to take care of my problem, but that’s not working either. If the problem is not resolved by tonight, I’ll have no choice other than to host elsewhere. It sucks when I’m forced to move my account elsewhere because of an “internal” problem over at Godaddy. I’m not really angry about it; shit happens. Rather, I’m pressed for time; I can’t stand around waiting for Godaddy to recover their fumble.
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Still Working On RGV Community After a meeting,
shaine
Mobile post sent by shaine using Utterli.
Replies. mp3
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Join Me for National Podcast Post Month
shaine
Join me as I try to do 30 podcasts in 30 days for National Podcast Post Month, also known as NaPodPoMo. NaPodPoMo was started by Jennifer Navarrete and has dozens of members who are participating this year. Last year’s NaPodPoMo was a lot of fun.
Besides the personal challenge in coming up with stuff to talk about for 30 days, what makes NaPodPoMo fun is that you get to hear other people who have something to contribute. It’s a great way to find podcasts that you didn’t know about.
Be sure to visit the site and sign up for the challenge. If you don’t want to podcast this year, then at least listen to some of the podcasts. Make some friends.
You can listen to my first post of the month on Utterli.
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Tertius
Wow, good luck with this!
Hope you don’t have a day job!
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Shaine Mata
Nah, don’t worry. Most of this is done on the fly.
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Morning Show: Post Hurricane Dolly Drive
shaine
This morning, I did a show recounting what I witnessed in the aftermath of Hurricane Dolly while driving to work. Listen in.
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What's Your Schtick?
shaine
Lately, I have been checking out services to which I subscribe. There are some things like Blog Talk Radio, blogs, podcasts, tv shows, radio shows, and other things. It clicked that everybody has their own schtick. The people to whom I subscribe will be into health, fitness, finance, politics, family, or some other special topic. Even my one magazine subscription to Men’s Health has a schtick.
When it comes to content, there has to be the one topic that defines what you offer. You have to make your name synonymous with a topic. When you hear Richard Simmons, you think Sweating to the Oldies. When you hear Fox News, you think Fair and Balanced. When you hear Robert Scoble, you think Technology Blogger. Some people are New Media gurus. Some are big names in the financial world. Everybody has a topic that defines them. Martha Stewart, for example, is a big name in home-related fashions and crafts. In short, everybody has a schtick that defines what they are all about. Marketers would call this a niche.
If you are having trouble finding an audience for your blog or other content, it’s probably because you don’t have a niche. You have to find the one topic at which you will the expert and the voice. In other words, you have to find your schtick. You have to be known for that one thing that makes you different from all the other schlubs out there. You need to stand out.
So, what’s your schtick?
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Getting Back On The Air With Blog Talk Radio
shaine
I have been playing around with getting back on Blog Talk Radio. I’m doing a series of shows this week to kind of get myself in the groove. Formerly, I did 30 minute shows during my morning commute. My drive is much shorter now, so I am only doing 15 minute shows. Topics will include my opinion on current news and issues. If you wish to join me at 7 AM Central time, you can give me a call at 956-205-0706 so I can patch you in on the mobile.
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shaine
Broadband Lemons to Mobile Lemonade
Originally uploaded by shainelee.
You don’t necessarily have to have a big fat Internet pipe to stay connected with the world. Your phone can do plenty to keep you in touch.A few posts ago, I was lamenting the fact that I now live in an area where there is no broadband. There was supposed to be DSL on the way, but it may be a much longer time than originally expected. I got handed broadband lemons.I have since been learning how to turn my broadband lemon into mobile lemonade. Lack of broadband has actually liberated me and made my Internet use more efficient. I have, since buying my Windows Mobile phone, always looked for ways to connect. I have never, until now, completely relied on my phone for my Internet. Let me share with you some examples of how this is working out.
Efficiency
I have a laptop that I use for work. I batch my uploads and other broadband-necessary tasks for those moments when I have a wifi connection. At home, through my phone’s Internet Conection Sharing, I access light services like email and bill paying. This cuts back on unnecessary Youtube viewing, stats checking, and fantasy shopping.
Mobile Connections
Many websites are turning to the mobile phone as another screen to connect with you. More people have mobile phones than have computers. Even the most basic phones have some WAP functionality. You can use your phone for Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Pownce, Netflix, Vitalist, Google Reader, Grand Central, Amazon, Brightkite, Clipmarks, ebay, Flickr, Kyte, Wapedia, Utterli, Tumblr, and many more. Sure, they are stripped down versions, but the core functionality, connecting with people, is still there. SMS adds even another layer of connection to your mobile phone.
Voice Still Works
You’d be surprised to learn that your voice can still do quite a bit in terms of productivity. Phone calls are still quite effective. Your voice can keep notes with Jott. You can schedule Blog Talk Radio shows to create podcasts from anywhere with phone service. Finally, before there was widespread email, there was voice mail. Leave your message instead of playing phone tag. Personally, I prefer you tell me what you want in your message rather than having me call you to find out what you want. Chances are, I won’t.
To help illustrate how lack of broadband has been more of a blessing than a curse, I wrote this post while walking laps around the park. I’m free!
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TGIF with Shaine
shaine
Just a quick show discussing plans for the weekend. Have a Happy Friday!
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Jott Now Has Feeds
shaine
Great New Service
One of my all-time favorite web services, Jott, has added yet another kick-butt feature. They have added the ability to listen to RSS feeds. They have a few pre-selected feeds set up, but the service is completely customizable. You can choose your own feeds to hear over your phone.
How It Works
First, you call Jott like you normally would. You dial 1-866-568-8123 for toll-free access, or 1-347-523-8843 if you have MyFaves by T-Mobile or MyCircle by Alltel. When the prompt asks you who you want to Jott, you can say “jott feeds” or press 6 on your keypad. The prompt will then ask you which feed, and will go over the list of feeds for you. You can also press the number of your feed on the keypad, also customizable, if you know which feed you want. After that you can simply listen to the posts. It’s that easy.
Some of the feeds that are already set up on Jott Feeds include Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Weather, LifeHacker, Mashable, and TechCrunch. They also have several feeds ready to just click and go in addition to the ability to add your own custom feeds.
What Practical Use Is This?
The first thing that comes to mind is if you are a commuter. You have the ability to listen to podcasts during your commute; but blogs are still something you have to read yourself. With Jott Feeds, you can listen to your favorite blogs being read to you while you travel. But, that’s the tip of the iceberg. You could subscribe to Twitter updates, Facebook statuses, or any service with an RSS feed. This would include Google alerts, which have RSS feeds. Unfortunately, there is no way to get password-protected feeds. Jott Feeds would be great for employees to subscribe to Intranet feeds from the field.
You can read more on Jott’s blog.
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The Latest on Shaine Mata
shaine
Reading Up on Personal Branding and Your Career
shaine
Chris Brogan has a new post titled Develop a Strong Personal Brand Online Part 1. It’s the first of a three-part series. I found both the post and the comments very interesting. I look forward to reading the ensuing posts. I’m sure that Chris will have much insight to offer.
My experience with personal branding has had disjointed results. Being involved in New and Social Media, I have gained some recognition. Yet, the type of job offers that materialize are often not in the realm of New Media. The job offers I get are often for technical work, which is fine in that it’s tangentially related to what I like doing. Yet, it’s not what I want to do for a living.
This issue makes me think that I need to look at what my personal brand says about me. If you are in the same situation where there is a disconnect between what you would like your personal brand to do for you and what it actually does, you should keep up with what Chris Brogan has to say in the next two posts. You should definitely read the comments as plenty of knowledgeable people (and the occasional goofball) will chime in. Let’s figure out how we can improve our personal brands.
UPDATE
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Luke Harvey-Palmer
God to see you picking up on Chris’work – it is always good! As for the disconnect between your Personal Brand and how people see you – then this is usually the case if your actions are not consistent with your words, or your PVP (personal value proposition) is not clear. Keep working on it, and be persistent..you will prevail if you can communicate clearly what you do at every chance!
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Shaine Mata
Thanks. I will keep at it.
Is Rural America Broadband Deficient?
shaine
I recently moved to Madero, Tx, a small unincorporated community South of my hometown, Mission. What’s killing me right now is that there are few options for broad band. At this location, there is no DSL or Cable. Our only options for internet at more than crawling speeds are satellite, microwave, or mobile broadband through one of the major carriers like Sprint or AT&T. My current situation leads me to think about what people in rural areas face with respect to jumping on the latest and greatest websites. The downside to DSL and Cable alternatives is that they charge a pretty steep premium. DSL will be coming around in the next 6 months.
Currently, my Internet access piggybacks on my phone’s internet sharing. I’ve blogged in the past about the speed I can achieve, which is around the old ISDN speed. Back in the day, this would have been awesome. Today, it’s woefully inadequate. With today’s websites, moving around is rather painful at that speed. My activities are limited to checking email and writing blog posts. If I dare to browse around and read other blogs, it would take a considerable chunk of time to move from one to another. Quite frankly, without broadband, social media is hardly worth the effort. The only exception are those sites that have added mobile interfaces to their sites. They may be stripped down, but they get the basic job done of keeping you in touch.
This leads me to believe that there is giant segment of people out there for whom social and new media are a waste of time, literally. Without broadband access for physical or economic reasons, it is simply too much of a time sink to wait for content to download. If they go online, it is with a specific objective and they move on with their lives once it is achieved.
I often hear that New Media is in its infancy. I would tend to agree now that I realize with greater understanding that there are folks out there for whom it is meaningless. It’s tough to appreciate Youtube when you’re connected at dial-up speeds, which are often under 56k. It’s even tougher to be part of the conversation when you have limitations on what you can upload.
I don’t want to give the impression that rural areas are disadvantaged. Rather, rural America has some obstacles when it comes to participating in the new media. Obviously, if somebody living out in the country is willing to put up the money for satellite, mobile broadband, or some other alternate broadband access, then they have no problem contributing; however, I would argue that few are willing to pay $60+/month for non-business access. In addition, with sites like Kyte.tv and Utterz, which lend themselves to mobile technology, rural folks have some contribution to make. I think more people are willing to pay for mobile service, which has a practical and more accessible use.
Picture of Io Evangeline
shaine
The video I sent was probably the wrong format. Here she is in a picture.
Mobile post sent by shaine using Utterz.
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Melissa Zamora
Congrats! What a beautiful angel.
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Shaine Mata
Thanks Melissa.
How Blog Talk Radio Can Help You Get More From Your Day
shaine
If you have followed me and my work for a while, you know that I have done live shows on Blog Talk Radio for almost a year. It is such an awesome experience to wake up, drop off the boy at school, and get ready to do a live show. I am such an advocate for starting your own show; but today, I want to address the other side of the coin, listening to other hosts.
If I am not careful, I can start by listening to JJ Truth, do my own show, listen to Nikki Starr, listen to Fausta Wertz, and then have to race to work before another show starts to draw me in. Seriously, the content of some of these shows can be so compelling that you can’t turn away.
But let’s say that you don’t have the time or inclination to sit at your computer to listen to show after show. Of what value is Blog Talk Radio? Well, if you’ve ever heard of the Long Tail in Marketing, you have an idea of what I’m about to write about. If you’ve never heard of it, the Long Tail refers to the aggregate amount of sales in the tail end of the business cycle. The best example is how Netflix makes a lot of money on older DVD movies versus some of the latest releases. Documentaries, independent films, old TV shows, and such that have already made their killing at one time or another, continue to bring in revenue a little bit at a time.
Blog Talk Radio has a similar phenomenamena. There are thousands of daily listeners, but the true value of Blog Talk Radio lies in the archives, the long tail. Assuming each show is properly tagged and noted, you could search on any number of topics and find a show, or several, that will address your interest. On top of that, you don’t have to read the material, it is spoken to you. Given the live nature of Blog Talk Radio, it is possible that a listener may call in to ask a question or pose the question through the chat room as you may have wanted to ask.
You may be thinking, “oh, big deal. I can do a Google search and find any number of sources for information.” You would be right. However, you would only be able to read and evaluate one at a time. Whereas doing the same with BTR frees you up to listen, like you would your talk radio station, while you do other stuff. When you are reading a blog, you can’t do anything other than read. When you listen to an expert on Blog Talk Radio, you can keep working while you listen. This will help you get more from your day.
Trying to Get By Without Broadband
shaine
Currently, our broadband connection at home is not working. This poses a few problems for me in that it limits my Internet options. Rather than fix the problem, I’m going to let it ride and try to get by using my mobile phone as my Internet connection. Even with this, I’m not truly experiencing dial-up speed. Using my phone, I can still pull down 115 kb/s; this is faster than dial-up. Even so, the Internet is not exactly speeding along.
One thing I have to accept is that I can only browse one thing at a time. Browsing two pages at once means that they will both load slowly. Therefore I still end up waiting for pages to download. It forces you to plan your browsing. This in turn, may actually result in saving time because you focus on what you need to get done and cut out unnecessary browsing.
Video is a problem. Small videos are not a big problem, but much of the fun stuff is in the high megabyte count, making them painfully slow to view. I can forget about uploading.
Audio podcasts are, strangely, still doable. It seems that my phone is capable of downloading just a little faster than the media player is able to play; therefore, I can listen to podcasts while they download. I am able to catch some streaming audio too. In the case of recording shows, I don’t typically use a data connection to record my shows; I dial in. The only downside is that if I want to use my Blog Talk Radio or Talkshoe switchboards, I cannot simultaneously dial in. My mobile phone lets me pick between data or voice, but not both. Therefore, I need to run off somewhere where there is free wifi, or I need to get a second phone for voice.
Working on a slow connection also has social media implications. I have to use low-bandwidth options. This means that Twitter is best used via GTalk. Using the Twitter website is just too slow. Facebook and Myspace? Forget it, unless I use the mobile versions. This is probably not a bad thing. Mobile versions strip out all the junk people load on their pages and get to the point. I suppose I can continue using mobile versions of my social media.
For blogging, I can’t say that I am hampered all that much. Blogging, for the most part, uses a static page. Fortunately, blogging, which has been good for me career-wise, is hardly impacted without broadband. I am blogging using my phone’s connection now.
One other thing that I’ve come to appreciate is that I am able to operate a great service that I have started using, smartsheet.com. Smartsheet is a great website that is perfect for project planning and team collaboration. I was worried that my ability to use SmartSheet would be hampered by a slow connection; it is not. Although it is slow to load at the outset, once it’s loaded, there is not problem. So, you mobile professionals may appreciate this about SmartSheet.
Most of this is moot if you choose to use something like Sprint’s EV-DO. Sprint’s mobile Internet is spectacular. I’ve used Sprint and I must say that I am impressed. They have 1 Mb speeds for download and not too shabby upload speeds. In my case, I use T-Mobile’s EDGE data connection. It’s no EV-DO, but I’ve been very happy with T-Mobile’s customer service; so, I’m willing to put up with the slower speed.
NOTE:
In case you are wondering, I have a T-Mobile Dash and use the built-in Internet sharing feature on the phone. The unlimited data plan is roughly $20/month, which includes unlimited access to T-Mobile HotSpots.
Non-profit Social Media With Trish Forant of eMailOurMilitary.com
shaine
I will be interviewing Trish Forant of eMailOurMilitary.com tomorrow morning from 8:30 to 9:00 AM, CST. She is the founder of the organization, which sends messages of support to our troops. We will be discussing how eMOM uses social media to promote their mission and raise the money necessary to carry it out.
You can listen live on Blog Talk Radio. You are welcome to join us and dial in to the show. The phone number is 646-716-8227.
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Nettie D.
I followed you in following them, but there were too many tweets to continue. Like all the Any Soldier care package/letter requests, it’s sometimes overwhelming; I never feel like I’m doing enough despite their assurances anything is appreciated.
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Trish
Thanks so much. Looking forward to it.
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Dayngr
Can’t wait!!
Join Us At PodCamp San Antonio Numero Dos - Video
shaine
Sunk Costs and Moving On
shaine
You can listen to today’s show on Blog Talk Radio.
One concept you learn in business school is that of sunk costs. In case you have not been introduced to the term of a sunk cost, it is essentially an unrecoverable cost. An example of a sunk cost is the purchase of a machine that makes type A widgets, only to have the world switch to type B widgets one year later before your machine is fully depreciated. Do you keep producing type A widgets until your equipment is fully depreciated? Or, do you sell it off to the highest bidder and buy type B widget equipment?
All the money you spent on the type A widget maker is irrelevant, and a sunk cost. You should not focus on how much you’ve already spent; you need to focus on how much you stand to lose by not going to type B and how much you stand to gain by making the change.
Often, we are so preoccupied by how much time, effort, and money we put into something that we lose sight of its irrelevance. This has business, political, and even personal ramifications. Our unwillingness to write something off as a sunk cost keeps us mired in a system that does not work.
Think of how American companies were slow to innovate in manufacturing processes while Asian companies invested in state of the art equipment and business practices. Think of how politicians will not accept the failure of government programs and simply tack on more legislation to try to fix a fundamentally flawed system. Think of how many American workers put their livelihood on the hands of the local plant that may or may not be there a few years down the road.
Progress does not care how long you’ve done something, how much you spent, or how much you care about it. The economy moves on whether you want it to or not. You have to be willing to cut your losses, aka sunk costs, and move on to other things. Otherwise, you’ll have to sink with your ship.
We often see that business is slow to react to market forces. Politicians will keep a dead a dead horse standing on principle. And, we occasionally get bent on making something work that has no hope. All of this is not to say that we ought not look to the past for guidance. The point is that we should be willing to let go of those bad decisions that cannot be remedied or undone. We should occasionally look to move on towards solving our new problems rather than patching our failed solutions. Sometimes, we have to be willing to start fresh.
The Morning Show: Creating Opportunities
shaine
Yesterday, we talked about your blog being your resume. People use your blog to judge you and your work. What you put out there reflects who you are.
Today’s Morning Show is about creating business opportunities for the freelancer. How can you bring in new business? How do you advertise? How do you land new clients? Join me.
Show runs 8:30 am to 9 am, M-F. You can call in at (646) 716-8227 to join the conversation.
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Nettie D.
Thanks for the “On Force” suggestion as my husband is also a tech. You may want to remind ppl of your timezone. I’m often late to the show because I get the emailed reminder just a few minutes before the show starts.
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Shaine Mata
I’ll remember that next time. I generally put up the post minutes before the show starts, so it may not help. The show generally is done on the fly. Poor fly.
Marc Rohde 5:24 pm on February 20, 2009 Permalink |
I’ve used them for years as well without issue and was fortunate to avoid what appears to be a huge mess up this time around.
Just moved a number of dedicated servers from a different provider to them a couple months ago so I’m hoping I never experience your problem–in the mean time I’ll make sure I have my contingency plan ready.
shaine 12:00 am on February 21, 2009 Permalink |
Good idea. I do like their product. Where I am getting hung up is that they can’t manage changing your hosting accounts from one type to another very easily. I had no problem with them at all and wish that I didn’t have to change. It’s the downtime that’s killing me.
Alicia R. 6:53 pm on March 19, 2009 Permalink |
Hi Shaine,
Unfortunately I just came across your post today. Hopefully everything has been resolved and your site is up and running again. Even if you are no longer having issues I’d really like to learn more. Please email me with some more details and I will take a look. Thanks!