Technology Report from a Not-So-Early Adopter

Seth — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Lately I’ve been, as the kids say, “getting digi with it.” Actually, we never say that because Will Smith isn’t cool…unless of course it’s Fresh Prince reruns. No not those, the older ones when Vivian Banks is played by Janet Hubert-Whitten. You probably like the U.S. version of The Office better. Oh man, now I’m mixing sarcastic rants and I’m pretty sure stealing from an Onion article too. Anyway, as I was saying, I’ve been trying out (or found) a few different sites/platforms/whatever-the-nerds-call-them over the past week and wanted to give a quick update.

1. Tumblr: I’m leading with this because it’s the one about which I’m most enthusiastic…and late too the game as well! I’ve been “testing it out” for about a week now here. (Yes, I’m still El Gaffney.) And I have to say I’ve found to be ridiculously easy, fast, and fun to contribute. It allows you to post from a variety of places—from the site, a browser tab, a desktop widget, and most importantly, from your phone or BlackBerry. I love the mobility of this format for posting pictures with captions. Plus, it allows you to bring in up to five feeds from outside blogs, twitter, del.icio.us, Digg, VOX, or YouTube. While it doesn’t beg for a long post like a blog (see right in front of you), it is limited in the conversational nature of Web 2.0. You can create groups and follow friends, but people cannot comment what has been tumbled. Regardless, I recommend this platform to anyone whom finds blogging appealing but daunting.

2. Seeqpod: I’ve been telling people about the song “Summertime in the LBC” by The Dove Shack for years now. (Basically whenever I’m talking about camp or early rap jams like Regulate.) I’ve even spent some time looking for it on old mix CD’s (I’m certain I have it so refuse to buy it.) Not anymore, thanks to Seeqpod—a site that lets users search and find audio and video from across the Web. And, what I find really cool is how easily you can share what you find…

3. Tooble: Learned about this one from the incredible Brand Flakes for Breakfast (as well as Seesmic—a video conversation site, which I still need more time to try out but they believe is gonna be huge). Basically Tooble is a technology you download that let’s you import YouTube videos into your iTunes and then onto your video iPod. As someone who doesn’t have a video iPod, I was more interested in getting YouTube videos onto my hard-drive so I could then upload them into powerpoint. See how I had to hyperlink everything in my Georgetown Marketing Association presentation? Now I don’t have to. I can import these videos into my pres and have them play without getting online. My only gripe is that the quality suffers a bit, which could be an issue since many YouTube videos are already a bit blurry. Yet, I can think of a handful of times I really could have used this application. So go for it, presenters!

What do you think? I mean, I’m no Tom Green, but I may need to get myself a new Web 2.0 logo pretty soon. And thanks to Matthew for the inspiration—a post on Blackberry apps. Got any other suggestions of online tech to check?

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P.S. Is anyone on Pownce anymore? It was supposed be a new great way to share files, links, messages, etc. with people (I think mostly files—music and pdf’ed articles, for example). But if my 15 friends are any indication, this place is a ghost-town.

First Movie Review

Seth — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 18:05:00 +0000

Yesterday’s plan was to catch up on sleep, work out and go see Glory Road with a friend. 2 out of 3 happened. So when my friend bailed on the bball movie, I was faced with some new decisions. And the process went: Really want to see a movie, what’s playing close, do I really want to see any of those, yes, do I want to see that one alone, hell yes. So I went to see Brokeback Mountain last night… and saw it solo, which I believe is the way to go for a straight 24 year old guy. (I wouldn’t know about 25 though.) Also, if you happen to catch E!’s The Soup, you’ll see an amazing skit on marketing the movies to men – “a movie with no gay monkeys.” The long and short of it (no pun intended): Definitely recommend, not just because it’s up for an Oscar, but it’s a great story, terrifically acted (and I think as a straight male, you can appreciate how difficult it would be to make your man love believable, and especially not overact), and thoroughly interesting and exhausting.

That’s all I’ve got. I’m an awful critic. If I really was one I’d use bad puns (see above) or quotes from other (and often unrelated) movies and shows to critique (i.e. I wish I had 4 hands so I could give that movie 4 thumbs up). Thus, rather than provide a plot summary, note on symbolism or a social commentary, I’ll stick to what caught me most – the beauty and serenity of the actual geography – and how it positively changed my perception of Wyoming. I remember wanting to hit up a ranch after City Slickers. Now I’m not just aware of Wyoming, but am compelled to put this type of travel (lake and mountain America) into my vacation consideration set. And it seems I’m not the only one… http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-01-30-brokeback-tourism_x.htm

Who cares if it was shot in Canada? I’m already sold on Wyoming. And just so you know The Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 are being filmed in The Bahamas… at least one or two scenes.

El Gaffney » reviews

Technology Report from a Not-So-Early Adopter

First Movie Review