Of course, that could cause everything to go horribly wrong for this entire deal. So, in the interest of prudent exploration, I’m taking a break to do a big backup. If we can get this thing working, then I’ll move on to try and pimp my Tumblr site next. But, as always, mpomy.com must come first
Let’s see.
Maybe… This is a test post to see if the plugin works.
Couldn’t upload pix yesterday. How about a plain text post?
Starting to mess around with Brizzly a bit. I’ve never loved Tweetdeck, mainly because it’s a pain in the neck ti have another application to sift through on the desktop. I had tried widgets and just depending on the actual twitter page, but the beauty of twitter is that it’s not about the page. Indeed, the functionality of Tweetdeck, running Adobe Air, is far beyond what can be done on the so-called twitter page.
So, he cool thing about Brizzly is that it’s not a separate application – it’s a webpage, reminiscent of a super-dumbed-down Facebook page. Still no ads. Very easy group management, including new group formation and simple add/remove options for all ‘friends’.
But the Twitter page stuff is here too, but enhanced. Trends each have their own ‘why’ function – which is actually now available at your Twitter page. But a Twitter page does not have built-in instant messaging that even allows for a Google-chat style conversation.
Brizzly has a way to go. There is no customization of the user’s home page and you can’t access a list of your followers or who you are following. That wouldn’t be such a problem if you could get to a Twitter page in another browser tab, but you can’t. It seems that working in Brizzly locks you out. That’s a big difference compared to something like Blip.fm, where you can have several windows open at once. I realize that’s all within one web app, so maybe the issue is on Twitter’s end, but it’s no problem to have a Twitter page and Tweetdeck open at the same time.
One other early impression is that the group management system is nice and simple, but doesn’t go far enough. I would like to be able to highlight certain groups (as I can now) but also exclude certain groups, basically a filter that lets me save values.
In following certain Blip.fm DJs on Twitter (which is highly recommended) I notice that my ‘in-box’ is almost always full. I imagine others who follow several thousand accounts must exponentially larger problems. The answer is to be able to make a defined group or set of groups disappear with the click of a link. Allowing the user to see only the most important messages.
You can do this now if you think about your Twitter in-box in groups or categories whose importance is arranged from top down. But that’s not how I classify the accounts that I follow. There are music feeds, news feeds, personal friends and family members, people I follow from Blip and random follows that I have had interest in along the way. It’s easier for me to group out things that I don’t want to look at.
But all this may be part of the premium service that is being offered to help convince Twitter’s high clientele that they should pay huge sums for monthly service.
So, Brizzly is nice. I;ve only just started messing with it, but I’m impressed by the interface. Photos and videos are embedded right in the timeline – which is terrific to look at. I’d like to see a built-in bt.ly resource, or something like it. Tweetdeck’s automatic service is really nice. But photo upload is just the same and it seems to work just as well. And the ‘mute’ button is helpful for temporarily suppressing the tweets from a particular user.
Best thing to do is play with it for a while. See if (maybe) more features come along. See if (when) another interface by a competitor comes along.
The way this theme is set up, the Twitter feed was hard to follow; every time there was a mention or a hashmark, I got one of those gray squares, and it was impossible for the reader to tell where one post began and one post ended. I decided the answer was a flash-based widget and just auditioned every got damned one out there. They all suck. I have temporarily settled with the ‘official’ badge, which looks more like an advertisement – that thing is not staying.
I either have to find a way to monkey around with the code for theme (there is an update, but I’m afraid to loose my customization), or I can go back to the old way, or I can just bag the whole thing.
The Twitter profile does not really serve any useful purpose, other than to give the visitor an idea of how often I update and what kind of garbage gets dumped there.
This idea of broadcasting updates is going to need its own post, as I have been asked again (for the first time in a while, actually) why I am not on FaceBook. The short version is that there is no ‘good’ answer – but more on that later.
Tonight Em and I consoled each other after a Phillies loss with a classic episode of The X-Files – Jose Ching, of course!
As Emily begins to take flight and FBdN spreads its wings to fly in a more individual direction, I am compelled to revert to the meta-post. A rumination on blogging will hardly display the intense compactness and focus of one of Em’s entries, or the articulate and erudite humor routinely found at FBdN. In the latter’s case, there can be no dispute that a profession in writing was inevitable.
No, the meta-post (the one that seems like it’s never going to get started – this one!) is boring to others and extremely self-indulgent. But, since so few people read this blog (or even know about it), I am safe from any real consideration of audience. Or am I?
It is not a child’s journal, hidden safely in a closet or under the bed. This is a more public space. Family and friends presumably know that you’ve staked a claim to a certain corner of the virtual universe. They are not barred from reviewing you innermost secrets, should you choose to share.
An that’s the funny thing about writing. It reveals so much, often without meaning to. So while I’m posting pictures of vacation, promoting a political point of view, or suggesting a new collection of Brazilian music, I may let my guard down. I may want to.
See Emily Play is looking pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself. It is so liberating to have a WordPress.org blog and I think Em has caught the bug. Also, I shouldn’t really take all the credit. I thought she was going be mainly content and I would act as her contractor for all design and customization. I’m very happy to say how wrong I was. I established the basic platform, using the lovely and flexible Atahualpa theme from BytesForAll. That’s a great platform to start with because it features a TON of shortcuts that let you (me) manipulate code to get the look and color you want.
But now, Em is acting as site owner and, not only making the decorating and environmental decisions about HER website, but also implementing those decisions. That’s a testament to her enthusiasm and the intuitive nature of the WP platform. I remember how excited I was back in the day, when I set this thing up for myself, and now I’m getting to relive all that enthusiasm with Em. Priceless.
It may not be much just yet, but we are ready to launch the mpomy subdomain See Emily Play. This will be Em’s personal blog with a focus on whatever the hell she wants to focus on. I’m assisting with set-up and design implementation, as well as the obvious domain and hosting issues. All content, as currently contemplated, will be courtesy the lovely Emily.
This is a special moment for me, because mpomy.com is really an exercise in vanity and catharsis. Google Analytics has confirmed that there’s not a whole lot of traffic, and that’s fine. The more important result has been that I’ve become somewhat comfortable with the best platform on the web and I’m running it locally on my host provider, so it’s my bandwidth, my rules, my domain. If there was something extremely interesting going on out there, I would have a journal entry here that would help me remember for later. Links can be preserved and pictures saved and it just goes on from there. Any fine writing is purely coincidental.
Emily, on the other hand, presents a totally different approach. She has had to be dragged into this kicking and screaming. Well, not quite, but it has taken the encouragement of a professional, published author, who recognized Em’s talent and encouraged her to act as a guest blogger. That’s a lot different than a partner or family member saying, “you’re such a great writer, you should just start writing a blog.”
So, today I spent the afternoon assigning a subdomain, setting up another mySQL database, installing a separate and discreet WordPress installation, and getting some very basic customization underway. Even now, the earliest entries are beginning to take shape across the room as we engage in the age-old exercise known as “dueling laptops.” Update your Google Reader accordingly.
I think this should resolve my Google Analytics issue. Yoast created the plugin, and he even includes a short video on his website of himself explaining what my problem probably was. Give Google a couple hours to crawl, and then that should do the trick. Thanks, Yoast!