Status update: Twittering your way to effective (and expressive) communication

Like many forms of online conversation, status updates make it easy to confuse the expressive value of communication with the effective value of communicaiton. I’m concerned about the expressive value of communication when I’m “getting something off my chest”, “speaking my truth”, or engaging in some form of creative expression. I’m concerned about the effective value of communication when I’m trying to get you to hear me, listen to me, or understand me.

Comments vs spam

Just realized that the incessant deluge of comment spam had masked a number of comments unrelated to Viagra, porn and serial number cracks. I’ve approved a bunch of actual genuine comments tonight, some going back to 2007 ….thanks for your patience,...

How to hack your tech to-do list

Leg shaving, nail filing, face cleansing, sunscreening, brow shaping, lip conditioning ….well, it gets to be quite a bit of work. I’ve now been a computer owner for almost as long as I’ve been a magazine reader, and I’m afraid the challenges of tech maintenance are even more relentless than the challenges of beauty maintenance.

Take note of Evernote (especially if you’re an iPhone user)

Since upgrading to a 3G iPhone, I’ve gone on periodic app binges in which I download every app that looks remotely interesting and take it for a whirl. So far, the best discovery I’ve made is a free app called Evernote — and it’s changed my computer use even more dramatically than it’s affected the way I use my iPhone.

Kris Krug on Web 2.0 at STT

Technology and copyright

Technology is obsoleting copyright law. Encourages people to use Creative Commons for all their work.

» bonus tip: When publishing with Creative Commons, use the attribution noncommercial license, which means that any non-profit can republish your content, as long as they credit you as the original author (or photographer). But businesses won’t be allowed to take your content and make money with it.

Promote ownership of your brand

Let people remix your content. Give them creative assets to work with.

Let go of control. Don’t make the mistake the music industry made — trying to loc down their content, and alienating their fans.

Document everything

If it didn’t happen on the Internet, it didn’t happen.

The power of open source

Open source software development is inherently tied to social change. They are building things for the common grood while working around traditional power models.