Are iPhone apps like TaxiMagic perpetuating hate crimes?

Last night I took a taxi home from the Tenderloin to the Mission District.  I had the pleasure of being driven by Mustafa, a relaxed, cheerful older man.  Mustafa shared with me how he no longer feels safe driving his cab after 16 years due to an iPhone app called TaxiMagic.  He’s had at least three bad experiences upon being dispatched to a call that originated from the TaxiMagic iPhone app.

It’s affecting his work focus and earnings and the supervisor won’t help.

I asked Mustafa for permission to record our conversation.

If you have ideas that could help Mustafa, email me adria@butyoureagirl.com

All these things draw big traffic to the top websites listed on Technorati.

photo credit: jorel314

Yesterday I read a wonderful post over at the BlogHer website, Getting Over My Insecurities and Writing Through It which caused this to be my 4th blog post in less than 12 hours!

I want to write.

I want to write something that will make you laugh. I want to write something that will make you cry. I want to write something that will make you nod your head in agreement. I want to write something that will make you shake your fist at your computer monitor in anger. I want to make something that will make you think. I want to write something that will make you appreciate what you have a little bit more.

I want to write something that will make you jealous. I want to write something that will make you want to be my friend. I want to write something that will make you hate me just a little bit. I want to write something that will make you pick up the phone to call someone to tell them you love them. I want to write something that will make you want to hug someone. I want to write something that will make you want to turn on your music and dance all by yourself. I want to write something that makes you wish you were a kid again. I want to write something that makes you want to grow old.

It was really very touching to me because it spoke about what I want to do when I write but sometimes feel like i’m not the best storyteller.  As I write this post, I have 95 posts that have never left draft mode.  I am very thankful that my blog has done well, earning a Google Page Rank of 6 and even got a linkback from Lifehacker for an article on Google Voice a few months back.  The ongoing challenge is making my blogging as free flying as my words, thoughts and actions.

I used to self filter a lot in real life.  I would think of something I wanted to say but hold back for fear of being judged.  It felt like a form of paralysis.  Each time I could tell I  had made the wrong choice because I would dwell on not speaking up.  Sometimes the situations would anger me, other times annoy but any way you cut it, I was not expressing myself to my own satisfaction.  I was able to overcome this by doing things that helped me break free including:

• Improv comedy classes
• Practice saying things before I said them to someoneJ
• Journaling situations I had experienced
• Getting advice from more outspoken people

In 2006, I finally broke free of my life-long, self imposed censorship.  Unfortunately, I realize it has simply manifested in a digital form!  I first noticed it with Lifehacker.

Lifehacker used to require approval before you could leave comments.  I’d found out about it in 2005/2006 and began to follow the delicious ideas of how to use technology to save time.  The concept was entirely new to me and eventually led me to David Allen’s book, “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity” otherwise known as GTD.  Finally, I worked up the courage to apply to be a commenter and got the above invitation April 13th, 2006.  Boy was I excited!  I was going to be a part of the Lifehacker inner circle!

Guess what?  I got comment stage fright.  That’s right.  I wasn’t even writing the main meat and potatoes blog post and over-analyzed my potential comments to the point where I decided against commenting.  I just didn’t feel what I had to say would add that much value.  Later, I was to learn this is called “Lurking”.  Lurking can be done on:

• email lists
• forums
• blogs
• social networks like Twitter

Back in they days of party lines where multiple homes would share a single line, I’m sure there were lurkers just listening in and not talking.  See I think if I were a guy it would be creepy but since I’m a girl it’s more geeky uncomfortable than creepy.

photo credit: kungfootv
Why is this a problem?  Because part of me wants to engage, to be considered entertaining and funny but other parts want to avoid the spotlight and being noticed.  Twitter has been hugely helpful in helping me.  With a commitment to be transparent on my blog and Twitter, I’ve openly shared thoughts, ideas, goals and intents that I normally would have kept private.  Thankfully, by sharing this information, it has helped me move forward.  People have been supportive, have been able to identify with my struggles and have given good feedback.

I will always be an introvert who prefers to spend time alone but I feel compelled to be more social and over the last two years, I’ve made gigantic leaps as if I were running an Introvert marathon!

Now face face when I’m talking to one other person? I’m golden.  We can laugh, chat, discuss, brainstorm or just sit quietly.

Add a person and now my brain get a bit tangled.  Who to talk to first?  Am I making enough eye contact with the second person?

Add a group and now I actually change from my seemingly outgoing and friendly self into “Super Introvert” where I take the role of listener.  Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing because then I ask a lot more questions and make note of who I want to talk to one to one later on.

• How do you deal with small groups vs big groups?

Thankfully, I have some really good friends and folks in my life who are just fine with how I am.  Plus, it has become so much easier than it was a few years ago.  I get frustrated because it’s hard to control my reversion to Introvertism.  It’s sort of like having the hiccups in church.  Some of my friends are real charmers like Brad.  He can walk into a room not knowing anyone and 12 minutes later have a group gathered around him while he and several of them are bellowing with laughter.  He has a true gift.  Hope to connect with him in Las Vegas while I’m there for Blogworld!

And for Lifehacker?  It took me almost a year to post my first comment and made about 30 over 3 years:

That’s it.  That’s my piece.  I’m going to continue efforts to not self censor when writing and continue to read other blogs for inspiration!

Steps

1. Sign into cPanel
2. Go to Databases > phpMyAdmin
3. Choose your database on the left (you can verify which one by looking in your wp-config.php file via ftp)
4. Go to **_options (the default is wp_options but you may have changed your prefix)
5. The SiteURL will most likely be the 2nd row and you will click the pencil to the left to edit
6. Edit the “option_value” box to reflect your correct website address and hit “go”
7. You will get a green confirmation that it was successful

So Lauren, there you go.  Make sure to sign up for my training newsletter to get tips and news on WordPress and business productivity tools.

Let’s take a look at the brief list I put together on ways you can use Twitter for your business.  This is a similar list I go over with my clients to help them think big when we brainstorm.

Taking it from from the aspect of someone working in technology, development, mobile apps to really, any sort of company that provides a product, you can see Twitter is flexible and full of valuable information.

Twitter creates action items for you

1. Questions about your product or service
2. Support issues
3. Feature ideas
4. Bug reports
5. Reaching out to product fans
6. Bringing ideas in for department discussion

People do more than complain and recommend on Twitter.  They laugh, joke, share their adventures, their frustrations and their hopes.  They spread news about politics, natural disasters and the latest leaked tech gadget.  They ask for help, offer it and directly pray to @god for guidance.

With such a vibrant and varied environment, make sure to consider more than just reacting to tweets but being proactive.  Sharing your insights and experiences can go a long way to build relationships on social networks.

Twitter allows you to share

1. Solutions that have worked
2. Problems your product or service solves
3. Feedback on updates in your vertical market
4. How people can connect with your brand an company

Twitter becomes a resource for your entire company including sales, marketing, development, technical support and can have a positive influence on your business strategy.  Twitter is like having your ear on the ground; you can hear change coming.

Everyone sees Twitter differently.  I see it as an opportunity to connect with people worldwide, help others and learn what’s working and what’s not.

photo credit: The Geeker Joy

Public Conferences

• “Professional Blogging: Your Stats Are A Business Asset“

  BlogHer New York City, NY, August 2010

  

• “Google Analytics Demystified”

  Blogalicious Miami, FL, October 2010

  

• “Keeping it Real: How to Land Your Dream Job in Social Media”

  Blogworld, Las Vegas, October 2010

  

Private Conferences

There are also a few private conferences and events I’ll be presenting at

• “The Security of  Digital Health Records”

  Private Conference, Colorado, August 2010

• “Everything To Gain: Utilizing Social Media For Your Organization”

  Private Conference, Alabama, October 2010

The a

Posted via email from Adria Richards. Living Life; Giving Hugs

Shared from Adria’s Posterous site of verbal reflections http://adria.posterous.com

Photo Credit: Jeff Croft

Yesterday I spent my first 4th of July in San Francisco. We had a BBQ here and then some fellow Zendeskians came over and we headed off to visit Clay, our old co-worker who was having a Vegan cookout.

Scene on the rooftop in the Mission – Lot of Googlers since both roommates work there.  Young crowd.  Single + few couples.  Freetime.  Smartphone in your pocket. Burgers.  Hot dogs (kosher?). Sunny.  More beer than the cooler could hold.

Scene at Clay’s in Mission/Noe – Young crowd.  More couples.  Indoors.  A few dogs.  Curios cat feeder.  Agile development. Pet rescue.  Delicious white wine sangria. Jailbreaking.

It’s been almost 5 years since I made a commitment to be more social.  Small talk is still not my favorite thing in the entire world; it’s like a salty drink in the middle of a desert.   This geeky introvert has come a long way from not showing up at parties to seeking them out and *gasp* inviting others to come!

On this day of celebrating freedom, I felt especially appreciative that I even have the CHOICE to focus my attention, future and career.  I was born in New York City at a Jewish Hospital in 1978.   If I were born just 100 – 200 years earlier, I would be disenfranchised due to my race, gender and high falootin’ curiosity about science, technology and trying new things.  That fact that I’m a combination of races could have created even more hardship.  This post was quite a bit longer but I’m going to hold of on the second part while I develop it out a bit.

Be grateful.  Live in the moment.  Appreciate every day you wake up breathing.

photo credit: n. panelo

Posted via email from Adria Richards. Living Life; Giving Hugs

Shared from Adria’s Posterous site of verbal reflections http://adria.posterous.com

I’ve picked 3 words to describe each blog:

• Afrobella – Glamour, Class, Intuition
• Awesomely Luvvie – Humor, Smile, Red
• AngelOnFire – Fierce, Style, Real
• Denise Jacobs – Joy, Hope, Manifest
• Rachel Baker – Geek, Entrepreneur, Hyperlocal

photo credit: Photo by Claw / 5×5 Photo Studios

Each of these women have given me guidance, whether they know it or not, every time they’ve hit “publish” on their blogs.  I’ve seen them struggle with career, family, fame, haters, business deals gone bad, business deals gone good, health issues, weight loss, weight gain, moves halfway across the country, technology triumphs and technology disasters.  More recently, landing book deals and finding lucky four leaf clovers stuck to your shoes causing you to bend down and pick up a winning, uncashed lottery tickets (well, maybe not those last two but I’m sure they are right around the corner!).  It’s given me the courage to step out of my comfort zone and reach a bit further than I normally would.  I’ve come a very long way in the last year, feeling like my spirit has been reborn with this intense desire to authentically connect with others.  It’s like hot chocolate for the soul and I wondered what I had been so afraid of before.

Life is about living.  That takes a certain amount of risk.  Walking forward into the unknown.  Thank you ladies for leading the way!