Category: Untidy Heap

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Updates for 2009-03-21

  • Gaaaaaah feeling crappy. Cough is worse. Should be at the doc. Am instead at tire shop, because Mr. Anderson’s wheels are sicker’n me. #
  • Two new tires, you say? Front two are ‘utterly shot’ you say? ‘Amazing I made it to the shop,’ you s–OKAY, OKAY, I *GET* IT. #
  • Doc is /completely/ booked today; they honestly can’t get me in. At least I’m not alone in my Spring crud? Not as comforting as it sounds. #
  • Gamer phone browsing people: can you go here – http://is.gd/oeab – and tell me if you get an RPG or Viagra spam? My BB gets Viagra spam. :( #
  • You know what makes being sick better? Cadbury Caramel Eggs. And by “better” I mean “Better than not being sick in the first place.” #
  • Rummaging in the pantry, annnd I tip over and smash a big jar of canned tomatoes. I was rummaging for paper towels, though. So convenient. #
  • Not ‘caught up’ on Leverage, but I’ve seen six episodes, including the most recent season finale. So many reasons to like. It may stay. #
  • Adrift: Mak says they might follow, but they can’t keep a traceback going when we’re surround.. http://tinyurl.com/cjwzh4 #
  • Wandering around the house, waiting for Battlestar to start. I’m actually /nervous/. #
  • Wandering around the house, waiting for Battlestar to start. I’m actually /nervous/. #bsg #
  • “…find a perfect place for the end of Kara Thrace…” /shiver #bsg #
  • Any else just have SciFi loop on them and replay a few minutes? #bsg #
  • What i want from the finale: I want to hear Starbuck say “Nothin’ but the Rain…” one more more time. #bsg #
  • And Doc gets my first tears of the night. #bsg #
  • #BSG is breaking my heart. And making me happy. Man. so good. #
  • So pleased with #BSG. Note perfect. #
  • Dear Dollhouse; you have delivered the goods. I’m in. I wasn’t, but I am now. #
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Updates for 2009-03-20

  • O.H. in the kitchen this morning: “We don’t squish snakes with branding irons in this house, Kaylee.” #
  • Retweet @DrWicked I think U2 just releases an album whenever they get a new guitar effects pedal. #
  • RT @seanbonner New post on SBDC: How to change the world in 5 easy steps: Part 1 – Go Vegan http://tr.im/hyqx – hmm. Food (heh) for thought. #
  • Twittering this week is kind of like riding a motorcycle while thousands of interested pedestrians try to climb on for a test drive. #
  • Adrift: Mak hisses to shut me up before I even get a good yell going. The shove into free-fall probably l.. http://tinyurl.com/c24oc4 #
  • Retweet @indieauthor RT@thecreativepenn Best publishing blogs http://publishing.alltop.com/ #
  • Warming up at the bowling allen. #
  • First two games; good. Last game? My full warm up game beforehand is hurting me. Also; why am I coughing? #
  • I lied. Last game was the strongest of the night. Wacky. #
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Updates for 2009-03-19

  • Nod @UnclePilot: My wife’s off to Italy & NYC for 2 weeks. Good chance I’ll have devolved by then; using my laptop to crack open tasty nuts. #
  • Still reeling after doing taxes last night. Oy. #
  • Not to sound like an ad, but: GoToMyPC has pretty much saved me from massive frustration, two days running. #
  • Publetariat interviewed me about @finnras, storytelling in games, and telling stories in new mediums. Part 1 is here: http://is.gd/nTUS . #
  • Adrift: [[We interrupt this broadcast for a link: Publetariat interviewed us about @finnras. Cool! Part 1.. http://tinyurl.com/d3vn8c #
  • Searching “macro” on Flickr can consume your entire afternoon. I’m sorry, or you’re welcome. #
  • RT: @jkottke: The new Facebook is definitive proof that Twitter and Tumblr had sex 40 weeks ago. Then Zuck stole the baby from the hospital. #
  • Daughter informs me: “You should pick your nose; it gets rid of all that /hair/.” Outta the will, kid. #
  • Retweet @wilw Scenes from the Recession: http://is.gd/nTje Some of these photos are heartbreaking. #
  • RT: @Agent_M: Webster’s dictionary updates definition of marriage to include same-sex marriage: http://tinyurl.com/djrsdm (via many) #
  • Random Average: So what are you playing right now? http://tinyurl.com/d2a7vr #
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Updates for 2009-03-19

  • Nod @UnclePilot: My wife’s off to Italy & NYC for 2 weeks. Good chance I’ll have devolved by then; using my laptop to crack open tasty nuts. #
  • Still reeling after doing taxes last night. Oy. #
  • Not to sound like an ad, but: GoToMyPC has pretty much saved me from massive frustration, two days running. #
  • Publetariat interviewed me about @finnras, storytelling in games, and telling stories in new mediums. Part 1 is here: http://is.gd/nTUS . #
  • Adrift: [[We interrupt this broadcast for a link: Publetariat interviewed us about @finnras. Cool! Part 1.. http://tinyurl.com/d3vn8c #
  • Searching “macro” on Flickr can consume your entire afternoon. I’m sorry, or you’re welcome. #
  • RT: @jkottke: The new Facebook is definitive proof that Twitter and Tumblr had sex 40 weeks ago. Then Zuck stole the baby from the hospital. #
  • Daughter informs me: “You should pick your nose; it gets rid of all that /hair/.” Outta the will, kid. #
  • Retweet @wilw Scenes from the Recession: http://is.gd/nTje Some of these photos are heartbreaking. #
  • RT: @Agent_M: Webster’s dictionary updates definition of marriage to include same-sex marriage: http://tinyurl.com/djrsdm (via many) #
  • Random Average: So what are you playing right now? http://tinyurl.com/d2a7vr #
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Updates for 2009-03-17

  • RT @mightymur “SciFi wishes to shed the geeky image – it’ll shed the geeks too. Idiots.” Truth. #
  • Just realized direct messages aren’t seen by those not following you. (A) I sent stuff that never got there (B) I don’t remember to whom. :( #
  • To those correcting @finnras’s velocity math: 1) he’s only falling 100 meters, so it’s correct b) he’s FALLING, cut him some math-slack. #
  • Adrift: I start to scrape/tumble along one wall and slow down. Apparently, this thing curves, which means.. http://tinyurl.com/cmuxy9 #
  • RT: @warrenellis: TIME: circulation a little over 3mil. BoingBoing: monthly uniques a little over 3mil. People don’t notice these things. in reply to warrenellis #
  • RT: @toniandrews: Part 4 of Toni’s article on the common issues that get manuscripts rejected is up on http://tinyurl.com/ToniBlog #
  • 3 o’clock. Going to prove Jean-Paul Sartre wrong and get some writing done. Where’s that writeordie link… #
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Twitter: No, you still don’t get it.

[This isn’t the polished examination of Twitter I was planning it to be, but I’ve got other writing to do today, and it’s gets some thoughts out there that have been cluttering up my head for awhile, so… well, there you go.]

So there’s this thing going on with people who think they get Twitter – who predict or observe one or more demonstrably false things about the service after looking at it for a few minutes… and then write a ‘news’ article about it.

There’s this other thing going on with Twitter where celebrities see that folks like Stephen Fry has over 300 THOUSAND followers, Wil Wheaton has 242 THOUSAND followers… and they think “I’m a big star — I can do that. I SHOULD do that. It’s PUBLICITY.”

(There’s this third thing where people writing about Twitter see that celebrities are joining in, and infer something doubly wrong, but that’s a whole ‘nother thing.)

So I want to talk about Twitter, what it is and isn’t, and I’m going to do it in the most ironic way possible — by comparing celebrity twitter-users. (Hate to explain the joke, but: it’s ironic because ‘celebrities’ make up such a tiny percentage of Twitter, and their involvement is all that mass media seems to grasp.)

First, let’s take a look at Seth Green’s page on Twitter. Here’s some of his most recent messages:

  • News: Robot Chicken will return on April 26th with the first of 10 new episodes. Seth has also recently batted around ideas for an RC film.
  • Watch “Without a Paddle” Thursday, March 19th on TBS @ 10:00PM.
  • Last year’s Buffy reunion can be purchased here – https://www.createspace.com…
  • A sequel to Family Guy’s Blue Harvest will air on FOX in season 8
  • Seth has signed on to star in the upcoming “Mars Needs Moms,” a Disney feature adaptation of the Berkeley Breathed children’s novel.

Right. That’s about enough of that pablum.

Now (and I know this is an unfair comparison), let’s put up a few Tweets from Wil Wheaton:

  • Ok, last one before I get offline and set up for today’s D&D session: You really want to track http://is.gd/ns9A. May the Force be with you.
  • Because I’m sharing all kinds of awesome things this morning, a new shirt from @jephjacques that rocks my world…
  • RT @Lilibet “d20 dice cufflinks: http://tinyurl.com/bqu33y srsly!” Holy crap, they’re actually affordable. DO WANT.
  • GAH! Fucking Kings.
  • Many of you point out that it’s Einstein’s birthday today. Holy carp. I decree that today is Science and Technology is Awesome Day.
  • Today is GEEKTASTIC: Not only is it pi day, it’s the 15th birthday of version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel. Also, I’m DMing tonight.
  • In the time it took me to walk to the car, the Kings scored 2 and tied the game. In the time it took me to start my car, they lost it. Sigh.

Okay, class, anyone see the difference?

Lemme help: Mr. Green is basically using his twitter page to repost promotional crap. Wil is telling you what he’s thinking. One is advertising, and one is making a connection.

Which one do you think I actually give a crap about?

Who do you think I actually (actively) *like*?

Now don’t get me wrong: I’m a fan of Seth Green. He’s a funny guy, and he’s smart, and I’m sure that he’s quite engaging as a person. But I’ll never know that from his page on Twitter.

Wil? Wil is like reading posts from ME (even when he bitches about how the Kings are tanking yet another game, which is nothing I care about, but still funny in the way that your friends getting worked up over things is sometimes funny).

And he’s got nothing on the way Stephen Fry works to connect with people: the man’s got over 300 thousand people following him, and makes an actual effort to follow all of them back, then apologizes when his mouse-clicking hand gets sore after an hour of clicking ‘Follow” and takes a break. Crikey.

Now, do I care about Wil Wheaton or Stephen Fry more (or even as much) as the other people I follow? No, I do not. I don’t follow them because they’re celebrities of one stripe or another — I follow them because they post things I enjoy. If they did not, I would not follow them.

That’s true of everyone I follow. That is, in fact, what I aspire to when *I* post to Twitter. Enrichment. Connection.

And yeah… sometimes I’m just bitching banal crap about spilling diet coke into a pocket of a borrowed jacket (sorry, hon!), so no, it’s not some kind of Zen answer to Life, the Universe and [trademarked], but it’s a hell of a lot more than “What are you doing?” and much, much more than “What are you Selling?”

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Updates for 2009-03-16

  • RT @largeheartedboy Amazon MP3 sale: the expanded 18-track Pogues album If I Should Fall From Grace With God for $3.99 http://is.gd/nqFq #
  • RT @MaryRobinette I am amused by the people who don’t like Twitter, but update their Facebook status regularly without qualm. #
  • http://twitpic.com/2506v – Bleeehhh #
  • Adrift: Full atmo and low grav means lower terminal velocity, but the only real difference between 23 and.. http://tinyurl.com/cgts4h #
  • According to Kk, the villain’s name in The Lion King is “Scarf”. #

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