Untangling the Web: Twitter vs. Yammer

Show Notes for Untangling the Web, Podcast # 1

Twitter vs. Yammer

In this episode of Untangling the Web, we (Jessica, Russell, and I) discuss the current trends in microblogging. 

For those of you confused by the term microblogging, we offer a brilliant definition before we launch into our discussion of one of the hottest microblogging sites, Twitter. The two-year old website is constantly attracting new users with it's question "What are you doing". Keeping people updated on your current status is the hottest trend in internetopia. 

Yammer, developed a mere six weeks ago, is giving Twitter a run for its money (or lack thereof...learn more about that in the podcast). This status updating site is targeted towards business networks and requires a business to pay a small fee each month per employee (that is signed up for the service) in order to attain administrative rights. 

We talk about pros and cons of both services and all that jazz. Enjoy our first podcast! 

Lee LeFever says "Zombies Don't Dance!"

Not sure how to handle zombies this Halloween? The Common Craft Show will explain zombies to you: in Plain English. 

Zombies are not the only life lesson host Lee LeFever is willing to share with you. In Dr. Weisgerber's PR and Social Media class, LeFever's YouTube channel is put to good use. 

In three minutes or less, Lee LeFever is able to explain the many intricacies of the web with carefully but simply illustrated paper people. 

In his own words, LeFever discusses the work he and his wife Sachi do. 

 "Our videos are short, simple and focused on making complex ideas easy to understand. We use a whiteboard-and-paper format we call Paperworks that is designed to cut out the noise and stick to what matters," LeFever says on his website. 

From RSS Feeds to Podcasting, and Wikis to Twittering...Lee and Sachi LeFever make sure no one gets left behind in this digital age. 

So thank you ,LeFevers, for making the internet 'plain english'. (My mother also wants me to thank you. She is an avid watcher since I introduced her at the beginning of the year.)

You can check out the Common Craft show on YouTube or on their website.

I leave you with a guide to zombies per the LeFevers: 

Deus Ex Machinima

Machinima (pronounced /məˈʃiːnəmə/ or /məˈʃɪnəmə/), a Portmanteau of machine cinema,[1] is a collection of associated production techniques whereby computer-generated imagery (CGI) is rendered using real-time, interactive 3-D engines instead of professional 3D animation software. (Wikipedia)

Sometimes when I'm bored, I like to do an ol' YouTube search for something exciting to watch -- maybe a little Shakira video here, or a Beyonce montage there. Everyonce in a while, I will think I'm clicking on an authentic music video, but I will come across 3d animations moving inhumanly in time with some pop song. I have always wondered what the heck these were.

Well Dr. Weisgerber has yet again enlightened me. Apparently these animations are Machinima's and they are no small feat. In fact, the phenomena is more than a hobby for some people. 

Machinima.com is an online resource for any and everything machinima-related. People can upload their creations, blog about what they have done, get the latest news, and talk with other content-creators. 

Seeing a need to categorize the art form and foster its growth, the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences (AMAS) was formed. It is a non-profit organization whose main mission is the development and advocacy of the machinima industry. The AMAS also holds film festivals for machinima and exemplary productions are recognized through awards nicknamed the Mackies.

And now ladies and gentlemen, I leave you with a beautifully constructed machinima video featuring Katy Perry's hit single "Hot n Cold", sung in 'Simlish' (the language used by characters in the EA game The Sims 2). Enjoy. 

If you are interested in dabbling with this art form, I recommend a good ol' fashioned google search on the topic. There are hundreds of resources that will tell you what is the latest with Machinima!

BlastBeat, where were you when I was in high school?

You know how when you are in high school, adults always want to ask you three basic and boring questions just so you feel included and relevant?

1) When do you graduate?

2)What's your favorite/best subject?

3)What do you want to do in college?

You know how you always give the same generic answers in hopes this will satisfy them and they will leave you alone?

Well I only wish I had something as cool as BlastBeat to brag about to these silly adults.

What is BlastBeat, you ask.

BlastBeat is the coolest resource for wanna-be musicians and those interested in the industry since MySpace, and it's designed specifically for high schoolers.

According to the website, BlastBeat is designed for teens interested in Music & Multimedia business projects. It is offered to high schools around the world to teach entrepreneurial business skills, promote young musicians, and support youth communities on a local and global level.

In other words, the program allows everyday teenagers to form their own independent labels and market music to their peers.

How much fun is that?!

It is actually two competitions in one. What teenager doesn't like a little friendly competition.

Interested students go to the website and apply to become an MMC [Music and MultiMedia Company] "with each member of the company taking on a different job description such as CEO, Sales & Marketing Manager, Talent scout, Web Manager, Video Crew, Photographer, Journalist etc ultimately producing a Battle of the Bands concert in order to identify the best musical talent in their areas. There are 2 competitions in 1, an enterprise competition for the MMCs and a Battle of the Bands for the musicians." (BlastBeat)

The competition is worldwide, and students have opportunites to network with eachother via the website. BlastBeat's website in the hub for most of the activities the students parttake in. Each MMC has a personal page to update and videos are occaisionally uploaded offering advice or sharing the latest news with other BlastBeat members.

BlastBeat is one of the more innovative programs I have come across. Giving teens the responsibility of fostering their own dreams with a little professional guidance is more than a great idea, it is a method that should be put into practice all over.

Oops, I did it again!

Drunk Dialing is so 20th century.

Our generation has far more advanced ways to embarrass ourselves and we are all for taking advantage of them.

After that first bottle of Shiraz or third glass of Texas Tea, it sometimes seems like a good idea to pour out every feeling you ever experienced about a certain person. If you are over drunk dialing, an text message is great, but an email is even better!

However, as you arise the next morning, wearing the same clothes and wondering why your face was glued to the keyboard, you begin to possibly regret emailing your mother pictures of your 21st birthday at that questionable establishment featuring scantily clad females. You decide that need NOT happen again.

Google agrees.

The innovative (particularly in recent months) Google employees have engineered an application that will (hopefully) prevent inebriated people from permanently scarring their reputations.

Mail Goggles is designed to halt any drunk emailing entirely. The application is simple: it makes you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind.

Unless you become a very fast, very talented math whiz while under the influence, Mail Goggles may be quite a force in drunk communication prevention.

Mail Goggles may be targeted at drunkies right now, but this could also help you not send that angry email to your mother-in-law or your boss...no matter what state of mind you are in. Emails are forever, after all.

Kudos Google, for identifying a problem of the everyday man and attempting to solve them.

Just for Kicks

Ha. It has now happened to YOU.

Never Gonna Give, Never Gonna Give.....

"You never think it will happen to you. Then it does, and you can't believe you fell for it," says Amy Shypailo. 

Amy Shypailo, 21, recently became yet another victim of a sometimes cruel -- but always entertaining -- internet meme. 

Amy Shypailo was Rick Roll'd.

The Rick Roll is no new phenomenon. However, it's effects are considerably long term. It can take a Rick Roll victim years to recover. Once that vaguely familiar synth beat enters the brain, and that velvety baritone voice fills your earbuds, it may never leave. 

I have shared this story with you because Rick Rolling is touted as a simple Internet Meme [a neologism used to describe a catch-phrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the internet] when in reality it is much more than that. 

Rick Rolling is the result of someone's creative abuse of the video sharing network You Tube. However it does not end there. Rick Rolling quickly spilled over into real life. Red-headed men in trench-coats and black dress shoes popped up in public places, regaling the crowd with stirring renditions of the 80's tune. The internet meme literally came to life.

Rick Astley must be more than happy that someone did for free what a PR professional would be paid thousands of dollars to do. Someone made Rick Astley relevant again. 

Still not clear on what Rick Rolling is? Don't worry, one day it WILL happen to you. If you need a more explicit definition of the term, wikipedia does a pretty good job of laying it all out there.