Fabulous Geekling Life

@GuyKawasaki's How to launch any product using Social Media -- for Smaller Budgets

2011-03-31T09:37:00.000-05:00

Last night I read an article on @mashable by @guykawasaki How to launch any product using Social Media If you don't know who Guy is just think about Don Vito of Social Media whenever I mention him. (That's a reference to Godfather in case you completely disregard pop culture in your life)

Guy goes over 12 marketing items he used to promote his new book Enchantment. I haven't read the book yet, it's in my Kindle so I won't comment on it but I hear it's the bees knees.

In this article Guy provides budget information for most of the points. And here is where some peoples comments got a little nasty. One guy wrote:

Great, that was totally useless. In the first 3-4 points the guy had spent several thousand dollars and could afford it because he was on his 10TH BOOK! What good does this do any one else but the elite who are on their 10TH BOOK/product? Most of us don't have that kind of cash. Thanks for more useless fluff mashable.

I will concede a previous posters point that its less abstract than most advice posted but it still isn't very useful unless you've got some deep pockets.

Ouch. BUT the good Samaritan that I am, I sat in front of the computer for about an hour and responded to this fella giving him advice how he can use Guy's advice but with a much smaller budget. Most of the budget went into agencies and design work and some things us regular small business folk can easily do on our own without forking over the big bucks. Well 5 min after I hit submit my comment has been deleted.

So since I have already thought through all the fraking points I'm going to go ahead and do a blog post here. If you find this information useful leave a comment so I know I didn't waste 3 hours of my life being a bitter a-hole. =)

This is sort of a a rebuttal if you're a small business that would like to implement some of the ideas and don't have $20,000. Which is what Guy wrote he spent in the comments for the article.
Small budget doesn't have to mean less quality. You'll just have to put in a lot of work to make it happen.

1. Facebook Fan Page
Guy Quotes $2500. Doable for $250 - $500 plus $500 - $1000 for image design
Here is the thing, a Facebook fan page is FREE to create. Any money spent will go towards customization. The key is finding the best freelance designer & developer in your budget, and being very clear about what you need. Here is an article by David Airley on preparing a design brief "How do you write a design brief" If you work with small budgets you need to be a MASTER of writing a design brief and familiarize yourself with the design process. Don't look for cheap design work but instead look for ways to eliminate unnecessary editing. Don't have your designer or developer spend time figuring out what YOU need. Do some research about Facebook pages.
Think about what kinds of features you'd like to implement ahead of time. Kim Woodbridge who I have used to help me with my Wordpress site for HauteSlides starts out custom Facebook pages at $195. Guys page is extremely simple. I seriously have no idea why it was so expensive. Two of the pages are just images that link to his website and contest. If you know 2 lines of FBML or HTML code you can do that yourself for FREE. And the images are basically the cover of the book with some different words on it. You can get a nice postcard design for $500-$1000. Ask for a clean, simple design that will look professional instead of Photoshop my head on top of this unicorn fighting a dragon design. The key to simple designs : Look for designers strong in typography.

2. Book Website
Guy Spent $2500 Doable for under $500
Hello Wordpress. You can get a Wordpress site with a custom domain name and a year of hosting from GoDaddy for under $100. You don't have to worry about installing anything, all that is done for you. There are THOUSANDS of FREE Wordpress themes and if I can be honest, some Free themes look better than the $2500 design Guy paid for. Just pick a color scheme for all your design work and stick with it. It will take some time to find the right fit but if you don't have the money for a custom design you have to spend some time looking for good free stuff. Look at Woo Themes. They have good clean coding and lots of themes come with SEO features. Premium themes can be around $100.
If you want your Wordpress theme customized, like adding a page layout not included in the theme or changing the visual style then you can hire someone like Kim. Instead of looking for a pure web developer search for "Wordpress consultant" or "Wordpress customization"

3. Book Reviews
Guy's Cost $16,000 (well his Publisher paid for it).
I have no comment for this except that maybe if you're a first time writer, don't send out hard copies but offer free electronic versions for reviews.

4. Email.
Guy Spent $5,500+ for 160,000 emails. Doable for $1000 plus $1500 for copywriting & design
Mailchimp costs $1000 for 200,000 emails if you use the prepaid service. Plus maybe $1500 for a copywriter & design of the email. You will have to enter in all the contact information yourself of course. I'm going to refer you guys to @leyla_a. She knows a lot about this stuff. There might be pre-made template options so you don't have pay for a custom design. In fact I'm sure there are.

5. Pay-Per-Click. Doesn't specify a budget.

6. Photo Contest
Guy Spent $2,000 on a contest app and $4000 for prizes.
I'm not sure what the contest app was, the contest is closed so I couldn't click the link. You can have people upload their photos to flickr under a common group name. Like the name of your book... and voila FREE. If you're interested in photo contests you should ask my friend @nicoleyeary she tweets about photo contests all the time. There might be other social media friendly alternatives.

7. Quizzes
Guy spent $3000 for a quiz to determine if someone should read his book.
I tried not to laugh when I wrote that sentence. But what do I know apparently quizzes about reading are awesome and people are lining up to take them. I'm pretty sure there are cheaper versions for online quizzes. I remember few years ago I nearly unfriended all my friends for sending me stupid quizzes about themselves. It seems unlikely they each spent $3000 to determine if I know their favorite ice cream flavor. I don't have any alternatives from the top of my head.

8. Inforgraphic
Guy quotes $1,500 - $2,00.
Good design costs $$. This is one of the few things I actually agree with. However you can set a budget limit lets say $1000. Typical designer rates can range from $80-$125. Anything lower and you're getting into dangerous novice category. $1000 should cover 10 hours of work at $100/h. Ask for something simple, do the research and planning yourself and just ask for a clean implementation.

9. Badges and Buttons
Guy quotes $50 each for design
That's a pretty good price. Get 1 design. Guys badges were $1 each to print. There are cheaper, less fancy options. Just google promotional buttons.

10. Wallpapers
Guy quotes $400. Doable for Free to $100
Guy's wallpapers are just the cover of his book (red gradient) in different dimensions with the logo/image moved around. They are not original or highly customized designs so if you follow in his footsteps you can probably reduce this to FREE if you know a little about Photoshop and can mimic a design. Definitly free if you get the next option of doing a PowerPoint show. You can slightly adjust the intro slide and save it as an image. You can change the PPT page dimensions to get all the different resolutions you need. Otherwise I'd say $50-$100 for someone to create Guy style wallpapers. I can't image a designer spending more than an hour on those. Use the same designer that did your Facebook page so each time they are not re-inventing the wheel.

11. PowerPoint Show
Guy quotes $3600. Doable for $1000
According to Guy a PPT show shouldn't have more than 10 slides. So if he followed his own rule, this comes out to $360 per slide, which is equal to about 2.8 hours of work at $125/h.
This is a very fair hourly estimate for a custom show. I'm kind of familiar with this line of work ;) Instead of having a designer spend 2.8 hours using Photoshop to composite photos for your slides, invest in unique stock photography and use a designer for layout and typography help. You can easily drop this to $1000 if you do the prep work and just use someone to create the slides.

12. Thank you slideshow
Guy quotes $50/mo
Seems like a fair price. But if the budget is really tight, dedicate one page of your website to the Thank Yous.

I hope someone will find this helpful. Also I encourage other people especially those in marketing to write up alternatives for Small Business budgets. And if you provide any of the above services drop your contact info.

Thanks for reading and Good Luck!

-Magda

Do you re-format your Hard Drive?

2010-12-03T09:39:00.001-06:00

Does anyone else religiously re-format their hard drives?
Anytime there is even the tiniest hick-up either on my Mac or PC I go through the process of reformatting the hard-drive and starting over.

I think I'm obsessed with doing it but I honestly think everything works so much better after a thorough scrub. I don't completely believe in utility tools.
Since I don't store any files directly on the main drive it never takes more than two hours and I go through the process every couple of months. It's just the OS and then the software/apps that I use. I actually make an afternoon of it and look forward to it. I know it's insane! lol Am I alone in this? How often if ever do you re-format your HDs?

The Ultimate Celebrity Christmas Playlist

2010-11-29T11:53:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving is over which means it's time for people to get into the holiday spirit! Holiday songs are fair game from now until Dec 25.

I'm a huge fan of Christmas songs. I'm pretty sure every major pop artist has a Christmas album so I made myself a playlist of all the most awesome celebrity Christmas songs. Instead of embedding all the videos individually I simply created a playlist on Youtube: A Celebrity Christmas Playlist
I went with fan created videos on Youtube vs. originals since I wanted to avoid ads for a continuous playthrough. They are in my preferred play order rather than how much I like them.

Jingle Bells - Dean Martin: Only ol' Dean can make this cheesy song sound so cool.
Little Drummer Boy - Josh Groban: It is no secret that I have a huge crush on JG. Nothing needs to be said for this version. It's nearly damn perfect. Also Oprah Love love loved it.
Blue Christmas - Elvis: Who better than the king himself to bring a little melancholy into the holidays.
Someday at Christmas - Stevie Wonder: An original Christmas song by one of the greatest musicians of our time. Apparently Justin Bieber sang this to the Obamas last year. After some digging I found a version of him singing it at some vocal competition which was actually not bad. You can have a listen here
Please come home for Christmas - Eagles: This is one of the most awesome renditions of this song.
Santa Baby - Kylie Minogue: I went back and forth between this version and the original Marilyn version but Kylie made this the naughtiest sounding holiday song EVER... hence making the list.
Baby, It's Cold Outside - Lady Antebellum: One of my favorite Christmas songs and I like this version simply because it has a slightly different arrangement than most.
Let it snow - Michael Buble: His renditions of Christmas songs make you feel all fuzzy-wuzzy inside.
Silver Bels - Meaghan Smith: I have no idea who this lady is but since she had a video I assume she has some sort of a record deal hence fair game to make the celebrity playlist. I love this rendition.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Keyshia Cole: One of my favorite renditions.
This Christmas - Donny Hathaway: An original song.
Let it Snow - Boyz 2 Men: An original song.
Believe - Josh Groban: Josh gets two spots on my playlist because he is amazing. And this is a beautiful song from the Polar Express soundtrack.
Where are you Christmas - Faith Hill: Original song from the Grinch movie.
Christmas Song - Flyleaf: Not many rock/alternative renditions of Christmas songs. And I simply love this song.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Brian McKnight and Christina Aguilera: I like this song so much it makes the list twice! I couldn't decide which version I liked better.
What Child is This - Sarah McLachlan: Sarah's Christmas album is very"easy listening". It's not very exciting but quite traditional and beautiful.
Happy X-mas (War is Over) - John Lennon: A classic.
White Christmas - Martina McBride. It's hard to find a really good and interesting vocal version of this song as nearly damn everybody covered it. I do not like the original but I thought Martina did a good job.
Caro Gesu Bambino - Andrea Bocelli. I couldn't decide which song to pick from Andrea's Christmas album. They are all wonderful.
The Christmas Song - Toni Braxton: I honestly probably am the only person on earth that dislikes the Nat King Cole version. It's so slow and his voice is boring. I thought Toni made it more interesting. Second runner up was Mel Torne (song writer) and Judy Garland duet.
Do You Hear What I Hear - Carrie Underwood: This is one of those songs that unless you've got some pipes it sounds very mediocre and boring. I thought Carrie did a great job.
Feliz Navidad - Celine Dion: This song is so cheesy I'm not a fan of the original. Celine's vocals make it almost likable.
Mele Kalikimaka - Bette Midler: Will forever stick in my mind as the Christmas Vacation pool scene soundtrack.
Jingle Bell Rock - Billy Idol: I mostly chose this because of the video. It's quite hilarious how cheesy Billy Idol is attempting to be.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays - NSync: An original song for the boy band's holiday album.
Christmas Time - Christina Aguilera: An original song.
8-days of Christmas - Destiny's Child: An original song based on 12 days of Christmas.
Sleigh Ride - TLC:
Christmas in Hollis - Run DMC: I was torn whether to include this song. It's not very Christmas-y but it's Run DMC.
Oh Santa! - Mariah Carey: An original song from her SECOND Christmas album. It will definitly get played at clubs during the holiday time. It's so damn catchy.
Last Christmas - Cascada: I chose this version rather than the original Wham! simply because this one fit better into the playlist.
My Only Wish - Britney Spears: An original song.
All I want for Christmas is you - Mariah Carey: This is THE ULTIMATE holiday song for me. An original song from the first Merry Christmas album (1994).
Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Jackson 5: This has to be sang by kids to be good. Otherwise it sounds forced and awful.
Joy to the World - Mariah Carey: Ok. Third time on the list. But seriously. You can not deny MC makes the most awesome holiday albums.
I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Amy Winehouse: I didn't even know she did a cover of this. Not my favorite rendition of this song but Wino gets on the list because well it's Wino singing a Christmas song.

Reminder. You can play though this playlist on Youtube: A Celebrity Christmas Playlist

Honorable mentions: aka songs that I didn't know where to fit into my playlist but a lot of people like.
Adam Sandler - Hanukkah song.
Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey - Baby It's Cold Outside
Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmas Time

Did I miss any other great ones? Drop a comment and let me know.

Fable 3: A More Accurate Millfields Map

2010-11-01T16:19:00.000-05:00

I've had a lot of problems getting lost in this area so I made myself a better map. I was going to make it pretty before posting it, and maybe I still will, but here it is in it's current state. Of course this is not 100% accurate but definitely 100% better then the map in the game that is practically useless for getting around in this area.

Fable 3 Legendary Weapon Guide

2010-11-01T11:35:00.003-05:00

Achievement: We Need Guns, Lots Of Guns [20 Achievement Points]

Collect all 50 legendary weapons. They won’t all appear in your world, so trade with other Heroes!

A lot of people are complaining about this one. It forces you to participate with other people on Live. I think it is kind of fun. A lot of the achievements are extremely easy. I’m at 37 out of 50 (74% completion). I’m on my second playthrough already because I missed a couple the first time.

1 playthrough will grant your hero 25 weapons, either obtained through shops, quests or chests. The weapons are randomly generated. The other 25 have to be scavanged through trades by “gifts” with other Xbox Live players. (Or your other Xbox live account)
Out of the 25, 12 weapons can be purchased in your hero’s game world stores. There are 3 stores and each will have 4 unique weapons: a rifle, a pistol, a hammer and a sword. But those 12 are bound to your hero world and will not change. To get the other purchased weapons, all you have to do is visit another hero world (as in another Live account) and go to the stores. Since I created my second playthrough on the same gamer tag, I simply created a dummy account and use it to transfer stuff from one to another.

The 3 Weapons shops are

1. Brightwood Village
2. Bowerstone Market
3. Aurora

Another 12 weapons are found in certain chests. These are completely random, so there is no way to tell which weapon will end up in which chest, but they will be unique.
1 weapon is obtained through a quest.

Fable 3 Legendary Weapons List*

*I’ve indicated which shops I found my weapons in each playthrough.

Fable 3 Legendary Swords:

The Swinging Sword
Avo’s Lamentation
Thunderblade
Souldrinker
Beadle’s Cutlass
Mr Stabby [shops] *Bowerstone Market
The Splade [shops] *Brightwall Village
The Casanova [shops]
The Merchant’s Bodyguard [shops] *Brightwall Village, Bowerstone Market
The Love Sword [shops] *Aurora
Really Sharp Pair of Scissors
Slimquick [shops]
Wolfsbane [Limited Ed. only, Complete the Silverpines quest]

Fable 3 Legendary Hammers:

The TYPO
Scythe’s Warhammer
Hammer of Wilmageddon
Sorrow’s Fist
Jack’s Hammer
The Tenderiser [Complete Dark Sanctum quests]
Faerie Hammer of the Moon King [shops] *Brightwall Village
Tannar’s Glory
Mallett’s Mallet [shops] *Bowerstone Market
Lunarium Pounder [shops] *Bowerstone Market
Aurora’s Shield [shops] -- Brightwall Village
Dragonbone Hammer [shops] *Aurora
Trollblight [shops]
The Champion [Pre-order Amazon code, doesn't count toward achievement]
The Bloodstone Bludgeon [Pre-order (not limited ed), doesn't count toward achievement]

Fable 3 Legendary Pistols:

Dragonstomper .48
Briar’s Blaster
Chickenbane
The Ice Maiden
Bloodcraver
Gnomewrecker
Desert Fury [shops]
Tee Killer Shooter
The Bonesmasher [shops] *Brightwall Village
Holy Vengeance [shops]
Mirians’s Mutilator [shops] *Bowerstone Market
The Barnumificator [shops] *Bowerstone Market
Reaver Industries Perforator [shops] *Aurora

Fable 3 Legendary Rifles:

The Sandgoose
Skorm’s Justice
The Shrieking Pilgrim
The Equaliser
Defender of the Faith [shops]
Swift Irregular [shops]
Ol’ Malice [shops]
Simmons Shotgun
Arkwright’s Flintlock
Facemelter [shops] *Brightwall Village
Marksman 500
The Hero’s Companion [shops] *Aurora, Bowerstone Market
Scattershot [shops] *Bowerstone Market
Gusket's Musket [Pre-order (not limited ed), doesn't count toward achievement]

World locations with legendary weapons

Mistpeak Valley Demon Door

Perform three unique expressions to a "LIVE" friend to open the Demon Door. I simply called up my dummy Xbox Live account interacted with it 3 times and the door opened.

Millfields Silver Key Chest

The chest is located behind the statue near the Demon Door. It’s the first path to the right as you’re moving away from the Demon Door.

Mourningwood Dark Sanctum Silver Key Chest

To enter Dark Sanctum you’ll have to first complete a questline that starts with “No Good Temple.“ When you’re getting a lever or gear for a part of the quest you’ll reach the room where the first flit switch will be located. Then you’ll have to complete a series of actions with the switch to open the secret door.

Puzzle in the Sunset House

The Sunset House is accessed through Mourningwood. It’s a puzzle just to enter the house. First you have to visit it when it’s daylight and look at the statues in the gazebo on the left. Then come back at night and activate each statue until it has the same pose as it did in the daytime. Then the house will appear and you’ll be able to enter it. The house has several other puzzles before reaching the chest. First you’ll have to beat the chess game. (You don’t actually have to beat it). Then once in the dining room you’ll have to move your reflected skull into flit switch positions. Then to open the side-rooms you’ll have to shoot the green orbs. The legendary weapon is in a chest in the side-room of the reflection.

Sunset House Gold Key Door

The Golden door is to the right as you’re facing the house and you’ll need a gold key to open it.

Treasure Chest in Hero's Sanctuary Trophy Room

Amass 5,000,000 in gold, the pile will be high practically to the ceiling giving you access to the little opening in the wall to retrieve the key. The chest is now buried under the gold so move it either to the treasury (after revolution) or gift it to a dummy account; open the chest then get the money back. I suggest saving it for after the revolution if you’re going the “Good” route as you’ll need more than 6.5 M to keep all the promises.

Aurora Demon Door

Return to Aurora after the revolution. Achieve absolute evil or goodness to open the Demon Door.

Beat High Score at Mourningwood Fort Mortar Game

First buy the Mourningwood Fort, then play the mortar game until you rack up 2000 points by killing 200 hollow man in 200 seconds. (Also a separate achievement, and much easier said than done. I’ve only been able to get about 1300 points so far.)

The Ossuary Gold Key Door

The Ossuary is in Mourningwood and you’ll have to complete the quest line that starts with “Bored to Death” to even enter it. There is a golden door on top of some stairs and you’ll need a gold key to open it. Inside will be a sarcophagus with a legendary weapon.

Aurora Silver Key Chest

In order for this chest to appear you have to rule to create a mine in aurora. If you fulfill your promise you will miss out on this puzzle.
Beat the Goddess Puzzle in the Auroran Mine by performing a level 3 magic attack on the 8 flit switches after shooting 8 other switches throughout the mine. The chest will then appear in the statue's hands.

Bowerstone Castle Silver Key Chest

In the castle garden (right side) there is a silver chest that requires 50 silver keys. So first you will have to collect all the keys (separate achievement) and then you'll be able to open this chest and retrieve the last legendary weapon.

Please leave a comment if you have additional information or edits and I will update the list.
Thanks.

----------------------
References
http://b4tea.com/entertainment/games/fable-3-legendary-weapons-list-tips-to-find-weapons-locations
http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Fable-3-Legendary-Weapons-Locations-Guide/7687

Silver and Gold Key Guides
http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2010/10/29/fable-3-silver-and-gold-keys-locations-guide-xbox-360.htm
http://www.strengthgamer.com/Fable_3_Key_Locations.html

How you're making yourself look bad on Linkedin.

2010-09-20T12:40:00.001-05:00

I haven't written any rants in like forever! But I've been busy moving and trying to get my little business off the ground... officially.

I've worked for myself for over a year now, and decided to just do it... to become a legit business owner =)

My little adventure is what has prompted me to write this post as I have spent a great deal of time on Linkedin doing research and engaging with my desired industry. Which I have to say is a great way to network and get work.

Since Linkedin is a professional/business social networking site one would assume that people would behave... well professionally but since it's a social networking site then some continue to act batshit crazy like they do on Twitter or Facebook.

People in social media really have delusional prone personas....

Founder/Principal/Owner/CEO of a made-up business. I'm still unclear why so many people chose to put up phony business ventures on their Linkedin. I'm giving some the benefit of the doubt that they don't know the difference between freelancing (sole proprietorship) versus a corporation. Although this is not rocket science. If you're the only one working for your "company" then you're not a CEO even if that's the title you gave yourself.

And as it is in most cases I would just like to go on the record and say...people know you don't actually own a business.

Writers and Journalists. Since when does writing a blog make you a writer? or better a journalist? Personally I consider those who get paid to write and write professionally as writers. Those who write articles for newspapers as journalists. And those who write for blogs as bloggers. I write this blog does that make me a writer?... hell no. I'm just someone who writes a blog.

If you "connect" with people that know you... don't stretch the truth. You look like a desperate wannabe. And these fables are really easy to spot. You're potentially harming your image by putting stuff like that on your profile, especially if you're a job seeker.

If you're on Linkedin.. have you see any other examples of people lying or stretching the truth? Please do share =)

Why I decided to purge... stuff... first steps to a Zen life.

2010-08-16T10:09:00.002-05:00

The first time I thought about getting rid of my Wii was 2 years ago when I moved into my apartment and got a new entertainment system. Everything was slick and black and the white Wii stuck out like a sore thumb.

Few weeks ago I realized I haven’t powered up my Wii for over a year. How insane is it to have something intended for regular use and not use it for a year. My theory for keeping it thus fur... maybe someday when people come over we will play together. Of course my 42” Sony Bravia XBR LCD is too precious to let some poor-motor-skilled non-gamer mongrels to wave their hands in front of. The only reason it got some use last year was because I purchased a Wii Fit.. which I used for a total of 1 week, probably 6 hours TOTAL.

How many things do you own that serve no purpose at all besides taking up space?

It took me two weeks to muster up the courage to finally put the Wii and the Wii Fit up for sale. The few days leading up to it I’ve started to realize how I just have a bunch of stuff I never use. It’s all just clutter and doesn’t add any real value to my life. Not even for entertainment purpose. So I started thinking of a plan for a more Zen style life. Less clutter, more inner peace kind of deal. I decided to purge “stuff” out of my life.

The Wii is the first of many things I plan to let go. Since I’m not independently wealthy I will put the items up for sale rather than give it away or sell it, and all the cash I make will go into a special fund. Something that I have always wanted to do.... go to Paris and visit the Louvre. I’m thinking of it as a do over for spending money more wisely.

Things I’m thinking about letting go:

the Microwave. Not even sure why I own one of these. Seemed like it was a must get item for when I moved into this apartment. Presently used to heat up coffee. I don’t buy frozen dinners to eat at home and I use the stove to cook. It uses a ton of counter space and I’m not so sure heating things up in there can be healthy.

DVDs. I don’t know the actual number of DVD’s I own. It’s A LOT. Some are still in their original shrink wrap. Ask me when was the last time I thought... ooh I want to see this movie which I already have watched before. NEVER. That NEVER happened. Unless it’s a movie I haven’t previously seen chances are slim to zero I will pop that into the DVD player one day. The “slim” chance belongs to my all time top faves like LOTR or any of the Pixar movies. But I have a bunch of movies that are just so so. Why? Because I used to belong Columbia House and they send me DVDs without asking if I wanted them. Probably a good time to push these out before DVDs as a technology become completely obsolete.

Sex and the City DVDs are part of that mix. I bought them for my sister but it's too hard for me to just pop one of these up and not think of her so I need to get rid of these.

Purses/bags. Well this one is still undecided. I’m a girl that loves bags. I own LOTS of ‘em... the only thing is... I use 1 on a regular basis. And I own maybe 20 of “everyday” purpose bags. And countless “going out” bags.

WoW Crap. I used to be obsessed with World of Warcraft. When Burning Crusade came out... I pre-oreded a copy on Amazon, stood in line at midnight to get a copy and ordered a Limited Edition Set. Yes... 3 copies of the SAME thing. On top of that Guide books, and TGC cards... lots of 'em.

Crimson Nintendo DS - I played the HELL out of that thing initially and now it’s been sitting in a drawer for 2 years without being touched.

Dremel - Owned time: 1 year. Times used: Once. If you count the time when I first bought it, opened it, plugged it in to see if it works.

Books. Now before you start yelling.. Why would you want to get rid of books... I’m looking to get rid of only certain books that take up space and I have no use for them. Things like the Java Programming textbook from college, or Photoshop 7(!!!) tutorial books. Not really sale/buy worthy so I’ve kept them over the years since I thought it would be sacrilegious to toss out books. Anyone know of a place that takes old book donations?

Shoes and Clothes. I already only keep things I wear... well not shoes.. I have LOTS of shoes I don’t wear on a regular basis... but some of these I just can’t let go. I’m not ready =D

Things I don't know how to part with:

Computers (all 3 are my babies). Xbox 360, Original Playstation (sentimental value), Mariah Carey stuff (pure insanity)

So far the Wii is the only item that has a Craigslist listing: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/vgm/1901234431.html

Wish me luck!

xoxo

fabgeekling

Why many designers are missing the point of the Guy Kawasaki book cover contest

2010-08-01T22:38:00.003-05:00

I wanted to weight in on this topic as I think many people are wrongfully protesting this project.

"You cannot do that. That is social suicide.
*Damn*! You are so lucky you have me to guide you."

I know this post might bring in a lot of designers to voice their opinions on doing spec work. But I think they are missing the point that SOME SPEC WORK IS OK when there are other benefits associated with it besides having a good portfolio piece.

Personally as a freelance designer, I think it would be foolish (and that’s the nice version of the word I meant to write in here) to not take part in this project. I don’t understand why more people aren't seeing the incredible opportunity that the Guy Kawasaki contest is. The unseen benefit highly outweighs the temporary monetary reward.

First let me tell you a little about myself to help you understand the position I’ve taken with this topic as some people who read it might not know who I am.

I’m an information designer who works in litigation presentations. I help lawyers translate their evidence and words into meaningful visuals so that the jury can make a good decision on a verdict. The pay is good in this industry. I don’t know many designers that charge an hour nearly close to what I do. There are times when work is bountiful and after a gig is up I can take a month, or three off and still be well off financially. But there are also those times when a string of cases settle and I’m not working when I need to be making money. I know how a freelance hustle works. I understand the need to make money. I have been at both ends of the freelance spectrum. When work is slow or I can't get paid work... I still work. Yes I much rather sit on my behind all day and feel sorry for myself but I try to keep busy, to keep polishing my skills. Most importantly I understand which free opportunities get me exposure for getting more paid work.

Maybe when you’re a designer who is making thousands of dollars a week it’s hard to see why doing free work could benefit you. (But trust me when I tell you there are not MANY designers making thousands of dollars a week.)

I can’t even comprehend why an up and comer, a student, or someone who is presently unemployed would be protesting this kind of free publicity. (I'd love to hear from YOU the most)

From the backlash I have seen so far on twitter, many designers with underdeveloped (and I’m being really kind here) portfolios are protesting this contest. Just look up @guykawasaki, he’s been defending his project for hours as a horde of artists are publicly crucifying him. I wonder how many are famous or wealthy.

My question to you is… WHY? What do you have to lose? Since you have so much to gain here.

Right now you only see…. well… “THE NOW”. You only see your current situation, of how you need to work on something that pays, or maybe you won’t be able to pay the bills. But there is a reason you are NOT getting hired.

I think one critical piece of information many people who are protesting this contest are missing is that Guy Kawasaki is NOT some Joe Blow trying to get FREE work. He is an already established name in the social media world. Anyone even remotely interested in this topic, or presentations or business should have at least heard his name before. People in the industry revere him. This book is guaranteed to have a presence one-way or another with many different demographics.

This is NOT an ad from an up and coming garage band looking for a free cover for their first CD, promising you, you will get your props when and IF they get famous.

This is NOT the kind of spec work that has zero potential of being more than just a portfolio piece. It's not even in the same league.

If you win the contest you will get paid $1000, and on top of that YOUR work, YOUR design will be seen on shelves in book stores all over the world. Not to mention the shelves of the people who purchase the book. Let's not forget the multiple venues of publicity the publisher will dish out for.

I also have it on good authority that the best entries will be displayed as a collage on the back cover. Even if you don't win, and don't get $1000 your work still has potential to be seen by millions. Ok maybe 1 million. Even if it was just 100,000... or 10,000

I honestly doubt you will EVER going to be able to afford FREE marketing and publicity with such a large audience, unless maybe you're Oprah.

How many of those saying NO, are presently making $1000 per project?

How many saying NO, have no work at all?

How many of those who are saying NO and don't have gainful employment think their time is too precious to work on a project that can help them get work?

Do you know what kind of people will take part in this contest?

Remember Tyler Travitz, the interactive designer who I follow on twitter because he always has good information on design. The one who by the way already HAS a job… with GolinHarris, and already HAS an incredible portfolio. Yes he has already submitted his entry for the contest.

But you know what, it’s OKAY. You can go back to sitting on your sofa and waiting for someone to GIVE you a job while other people make the money. But please stop bitching about how you're poor and can't get any work.

What everyone thinks of YOU on Follow Friday

2010-07-29T13:15:00.000-05:00

This is directed to a very specific group of people around twitter. Yes I'm being passive aggressive.
This post is prompted by a comment from yesterday's post =)

This is what my @ mentions timeline will look like tomorrow. I have added commentary so you know what I think when I see you doing this.

12:01 fabFollower: #FF these awesome people @fabgeekling @selfPromoter1 @selfPromoter2 @legolas @gimli <---- what IT can happen.

12:02 @selfPromoter1 [Hey look people someone recommended me for follow Friday. I’m so important!! Here is proof] RT fabFollower: #FF these awesome people @fabgeekling @selfPromoter1 @selfPromoter2 @legolos @gimli

12:02 @selfPromoter1 THANKS! [Hey look people I’m thanking the person who recommended me. I have awesome twitter etiquette. Thanking publicly is important for your image. This makes people like you and want to follow you. I'm an awesome twitterer ] RT fabFollower: #FF these awesome people @fabgeekling @selfPromoter1 @selfPromoter2 @legolas @gimli

12:03 selfPromoter2 [oh wow look I got recommended for Follow Friday, here check it out] RT fabFollower: #FF these awesome people @fabgeekling @selfPromoter1 @selfPromoter2 @legolas @gimli

12:03 selfPromoter2 [WOW! we are SO important, my name is getting mentioned A LOT today, here check it out] RT @selfPromoter1 THANKS! RT fabFollower 1: #FF these awesome people @fabgeekling @selfPromoter1 @selfPromoter2 @legolas @gimli

8:00 randomFuckingPerson I agree! [hey look I don’t have any individual thoughts I will just RT other peoples list even if I myself am not following these people. This makes me look like I know what Follow Friday is. I like to pretend I'm good at twitter] RT @selfPromoter1 THANKS! RT fabFollower 1: #FF these awesome people @fabgeekling @selfPromoter1 @selfPromoter2 @legolas @gimli

and back to selfPromoter1

1:06 selfPromoter1 [geez I hope the people who were not twittering before know I got recommended for Follow Friday. Let’s just make sure they do.] RT selfPromoter2 RT fabFollower: #FF these awesome people @fabgeekling @selfPromoter1 @selfPromoter2 @self Promoter3 @selfPromoter4

WTF!!!!!

STOP retweeting the goddam list over and over again. This makes me think you have some sort of mental handicap and don't understand how twitter works. This DOES NOT make me want to follow you. In fact I want to block you. I want to block your f*cking internet and smash your computer into many tiny pieces.

Why I'm no longer following you on Twitter or Facebook

2010-07-28T12:23:00.007-05:00

Starting this month, I'm slowly unfollowing many people on twitter and unfriending people on Facebook. This action was prompted by an incredibly insightful presentation/document by a Google social media researcher The Real Life Social Network. Reading this will put a lot of things in perspective for you when it comes to marketing or interacting via social media. The link appeared in my stream courtesy of @tylertravitz.

Tyler is an interactive designer at GolinHarris. He's a Mac enthusiast but not an over the top fanboy, he's witty, sometimes cynical and sarcastic and most importantly he shares really good information about design. He's getting married soon. I don't know Tyler Travitz in real life. We never met.

How many of the people you follow make that kind of an impression on you? How many people in your stream do you "know", at least in terms of who they are, what do they do, what's interesting that they say?

What is the real reason you follow them?

I've realized that I followed many people out of "courtesy".

But why?

I guess at one point I thought it was important to have a horde of followers. And secondly because I thought maybe people will find it rude when I don't follow them back.

Few days ago I was following about 500 people and was being followed by 900. These numbers are still small compared to others and yet I was struggling to keep up. Some of those 500 never made it into my "visible" stream. I was following people and never reading their tweets, simply because the sheer volume is impossible to keep up with.

The tweets I did read were from people that I "knew", people like Tyler. Those, whom after I have spent a few minutes looking up, I deemed credible and interesting. Some might say, well you just need to get to know more people and then you'll read more tweets, your life will be richer by making these twitter connections. It's so important to have a HUGE online network. Your network reaches a billion people. blah blah blah

The thing is, this research by Google proved something that has been naturally occurring for ages. People are only capable of keeping track of 150 "stranger" connections, or as Google calls them weak-ties. Neolithic villages would split into 2 once they reached this number. Roman army was split into groups of 150 so that everyone knew each other and Wikis involvement plateaus when it reaches 150 active administrators. I believe Google. I know this is happening because I've been noticing this for months in my own personal social networks.

I tried to resolve this by creating twitter and facebook lists. If I'm following you and you're not on any of my lists, I'm not reading your tweets. I don't even stream the "All friends" category into my Tweetdeck, it really jams up the resources on my computer (and I have GOOD ones. Yes plural, multiple awesome computers). But only few lists, @ replies and DMs make it to my stream.

There are many of these "Social Media" folks that follow me that do the same thing. Take for example @unmarketing and @chrisbrogan. I didn't even know who these people were until they followed me. I'm guessing because I used either "marketing" or "social media" keywords in my tweets. Once they followed me I have never heard from them. They have never @ replied to any of my tweets. At least @unmarketing replies to tweets directed to him @chrisbrogan never does. It's so obvious that he auto followed my account. Does this kind of one way social media connection work? He is following 135 THOUSAND people and being followed by 145k. Would he have so many followers if he didn't follow them first? How many of the 135K does he actually interact with? How many of the 135K actually read his tweets?

Chris (can I be this informal? I know his twitter avatar pretty well) actually has some good information, and is on my "ninja" list, which means I pay close attention to his tweets. BUT he has reached the kind of internet celebredom (I think that's a made up word) many people won't. His content is actually worth following. But blindly following people based on keywords will not make Social Media a rich experience for anyone, nor increase your influence. I would have followed him simply on recommendation.

And I do follow many people who don't follow me back. I actually respect them even more for being so selective and I respect my followers who follow me without getting a follow back. This makes me think, ok maybe I do say something interesting and relevant for this to happen.

I stopped "courtesy" following. Unless you tell me how to make a million dollars a day... oh wait... I don't follow back those either.

My twitter bio is pretty inclusive of what I'm interested in. Presentations (PowerPoint), Infographics (information design), Gaming and Technology. I left out social media... I'm on twitter, I have a facebook fan page, I have two blogs, I think it's safe to say I'm interested in exploring and learning about this area. My wide range of interests is what will make it hard to keep the connections down to only 150. But being more selective should bring better and more relevant content in front of my eyes.

I'm purging my twitter stream. Unless you're being chased by a freaking bear, reading you run 7 miles (every day) is a wasted second of my day. In just two months, you've taken up a minute of my life, on pure irrelevant nonsense. Same goes for waking up, eating, walking, exercising, and sleeping. Do you people really think others care about every minute detail of your lives? How egotistical of you. I do not need to know when you take a shit. (Oh it happens) You are the SPAM of social media networks.

Until Facebook allows me to set different privacy categories for different groups of "friends" I will be keeping it to strictly close connections. I have a Facebook page, http://facebook.com/fabgeekling you can "like" me there if you feel that connecting on twitter or linked in http://linkedin.com/in/mmaslowska is not enough.

Protecting your online identity

2010-07-05T09:03:00.000-05:00

I have decided to start a new blog. Don't worry my handful of faithful readers... even though fabgeekling has been somewhat MIA this past month, I will be back to the usual geekery and rants very soon.

The new blog will be strictly about design, specifically design for presentations and infographics. My faves! I KNOW! I've been saying how much I want to do PPT and Keynote tutorials and it just seems a little odd to interject those kinds of posts in between my rants about death at the hands of vacuum cleaners. fabgeekling will be more for tech tips, geekery, and THOSE rants.

Setting up the new blog quickly reminded me what a hassle it is to create a solid online identity.

Make sure your online name is solely yours.

So maybe you have a product idea.. or service.. What if one day this idea or service become your brand?

take fabgeekling for example. What if one day at the struck of luck I do something awesome and become famous. How quickly would people try to capitalize on the fame of my brand?

I've taken a few steps to make sure the fabgeekling identity is exclusively mine.

yourname.com If you have a business you should have a custom URL for your website. A blog with .blogspot or .wordpress is not very professional. I know what you're thinking... uhmm..but your blog... well kids... fabgeekling.com still belongs to ME. I've registered it "just in case". I just haven't bothered in setting up hosting for it as this blog is "just for fun".

A very quick and cheap way to register a domain is by using godaddy.com their prices are VERY cheap. The hosting fees are very reasonable as well.

E-mail If you register a domain and get hosting service, most likely you will have an email address to go with it. Like magda@fabgeekling.com (this is not a current address so don't try to email me there). But what if someone wants to pretend to be you... they can set up a gmail, yahoo, or hotmail account. This is why fabgeekling has email accounts registered with all those services.

Blogs So you've started a blog on wordpress. What if someone uses the exact same name and starts a blog on blogspot? Or maybe you have a custom url and people create blogs with the same name on those services. In order to ensure you are the one and only fabgeekling blog you should register your blog name on all major blog services and then simply make the blog private.

Here is a list of some blog services:

http://blog-services-review.toptenreviews.com/

The list is missing posterous.com and tumblr.com from some of the more popular services used.

Social Networks lastly you want to make sure that the name of your brand/product is also registered on social networks. Even if you already have current personal accounts you should create accounts for your brand/product.

Few months ago the director of Lemonade movie, came across a twitter account called LemonadeMovie. The account was created by a fan and linked to the movie site... but what if it didn't. It could have been a missed marketing opportunity.

At the very least you should register the name of your brand with these services

twitter (I JUST created a twitter account with my actual name. You know to set a good example.)

facebook (fan page with a custom URL ie facebook.com/fabgeekling, I have 67 fans... on a page I barely even use>.< Ok... well like 80% of them are my current facebook friends.)

myspace (yes it's OUT and so 2000 but that won't stop someone from stealing your online identity)

youtube You don't want people posting videos of questionable material under your brand name.

flickr

and of course sign up with any other relevant sites in your industry. For example if you're an actor, create an imdb.com profile.

What if I have a common name

First, you need a stern talk with your parents about being boring.

If your name is John Smith... I'm sorry but you're kind of screwed. There is a bajillion people with the same name. I would advise against making an identity that separates you from the other John's by simply interjecting a middle initial in between the first and last name or using any period or dash characters. Those are often forgotten and someone trying to reach YOU can reach another person with boring parents. This is a good time to come up with a clever handle for yourself. You know a nickname.

Parent's please don't name any more kids John Smith. If your last name is Smith... name your kid Vuvuzela or something.. you know so it stands out.

Once I set up the new blog. You guys will be the first to know =)

.... to the Greatest

2010-06-18T09:22:00.000-05:00

sister...

My sister and I have been avid Mariah Carey fans since she first came out. My very first cassette tape purchase was the self titled debut album Mariah Carey.

One year, when Rainbow was released MC came to Chicago for an autograph signing session at Virgin on Michigan. It was November and cold as hell. Have you ever stood in line for 8+ hours for something? When temperatures and wind chill make you want to kill baby lambs and make a freaking sweater? That's dedication people. Not to mention we all cut our university classes for this. Marta of course came prepared and was wearing a down filled jacket, a long sleeve shirt AND a sweatshirt.... I was in my "I want to look cute" phase and was wearing a goddam wind jacket. She took off one of her layers, the hooded sweatshirt and gave it to me to wear. Now we were both equally only slightly cold. Couldn't have asked for a better twin.

Happy Anniversary Tita! (fact: Mariah Carey calls her bdays anniversaries)
Miss you soooo sooo much. Watch over me if I happen to do too many vodka shots tomorrow night <3 This is for you =)

How today I thought I was going to die...

2010-06-04T23:53:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I feel like I live in an alter universe... A universe where I just don't understand the rules of how things should be, like I'm missing something, like I'm the only one out of the loop.

My mom bought me a new vacuum few days ago as an early Bday gift and I have never been so excited about an appliance before (not counting the Magic Bullet [no it's not a vibrator] or the Foreman Grill, which are probably last centuries greatest inventions after the Internet). It's one of those Kenmore canister vacuums and the top is a pretty bright orange color and it has instructions about all the parts and how to properly use it. At first this amused me, our society has gotten so incredibly stupid to actually require an instruction manual for a vacuum cleaner, with warnings specifying not to use attachments on furniture or curtains after using it under the fridge where it's dirty because it could stain. Seriously, common sense anyone? For a second I thought if maybe Kenmore thinks their customers are incredibly stupid and need such a warning, but quickly laughed to myself, and started to wonder about how Warning labels or instructions come about, and if some mongrel stained their furniture with a dirty attachment and then tried to sue for property damage.

This brought me to think how people don't try to "figure out" things like they used to. Especially true what I've seen in American culture, people are trained to do ONE thing (their degree or training or job experience) and that's pretty much the extent of what they can do for the rest of their lives. If something breaks no one bothers to fix it themselves, unless the broken thing is under the umbrella of things they have been trained to do.

The quality I admire most in people are their problem solving skills. People who just try to figure stuff out. Well not just try... people who try to solve a problem and succeed. I always seem to get along best with these types.

I've been thinking all day about what big problem have I solved. How has my existence contributed to the humanity. Have I made any life besides my own better, or happier...

The train of thoughts today have been filled with self and society evaluation... all because for a split second this morning I actually thought I would die.

With extra time before heading over to a client's office I decided to use my new vacuum and do a little morning cleaning. This is quite extraordinary for me, as usually the first thing I do in the morning is get on twitter, and read my RSS, and emails. (or power up the xbox). As I was taking the vaccuum components apart for storage, I left the part that does the vaccuming stand as I tried to get the cord to snap back in the place and then BAM the handle tipped and fell directly on my head, hitting me very hard. First reaction.. ouch, second reaction, Jesus Christ, that could have cracked my skull open!!
And with those few words all I could think of was my sister laying in the hospital and her skull filling up with blood, and for that split second I thought, oh my god, I'm going to die.

Although I've felt quite discomfort and a little pain in the area where my head was struck, I've tried to convince myself I was probably not going to die today. I thought how incredibly moronic would be to die at the "hands" of a vacuum cleaner and how that's not how I should be remembered. This of course has not stopped me from looking up symptoms for concussions and any tale signs if my brain is in tact. Believe me, I used to be a much worse hypochondriac. I would often lay in bed and think, omg, my head hurts, my neck is stiff, I'm dying, I have meningitis! On another rather related note, I read an article today how creativity is linked to schizophrenia. I'm pretty sure all my exs thought I was at least BiPolar.

As I so closely approach my 29th birthday, I started to reevaluate what I have done with my life so far and what exactly am I trying to get out of it. This will be the first year I will be celebrating my birthday alone. Well, not exactly alone, I've asked my closest friends to come to my moms for a small BBQ, but alone in the sense that only one twin will be present, at least in flesh. I always thought by 29 I'd be at least married with a prospect of kids, but maybe not in this lifetime. I've always had this sense that I was meant to do something great... and strangely ... a feeling of how something is about to happen has come over me. Who knows what's in store for me. All I know is I've made it thus far... without a single broken bone..... EVER! (I'm extra cautious most of the time!) Take that vacuum handle!

Also, I'm pretty sure there was no Warning in that booklet about potential life threats from handles tipping over on peoples heads. Anyone know a good lawyer? ;) (Just kidding Kenmore. I still <3 my vacuum, even if it did, possibly nearly killed me).

iTunes problem solved.... kind of

2010-06-01T12:56:00.000-05:00

So there is no magic software where with a click of a button it would figure out all the songs that are exactly the same and just leave one copy. Unfortunately for me, duplicates had to be dealt with on individual basis.

Thanks to whoever mentioned Home Sharing.

This is what I've done to get my libraries sorted out.

1. Enable Home Sharing on all computers with iTunes

2. Select one computer to be the MAIN and copy all of the libraries to this computer. There is an option to show only those songs that are not already on this computer. (This helped a little with not getting duplicate files carried over.)

This of course only works if the song names/folders are exactly the same. And since I sometimes changed them around, it still copied those folders over as they were recognized as something different.

3. To deal with the duplicates. In iTunes, File->Display Duplicates.

And then go song by song and eliminate them. OR for me it was easier to just open the iTunes folder and click on each sub-folder and see if there were multiple song files with the same name and eliminate the non main ones.

Unfortunately there is no way around that for me. Changing the file names by hand is what created the confusion between the libraries in the first place.

4. Delete the libraries on the 2 other computers.

5. Sync the "virgin" computers with the Main so now all the computers have the exact same library.

6. Turn on Auto Sync.

From now on, if I download a file on one computer, it will automatically copy that song to the other computers (when they all have iTunes running at the same time).

I still dislike how one album gets split among multiple folders when there is a featured artist. But now I will have to make sure I make the change before the sync happens.

I need iTunes help.... badly

2010-05-25T08:57:00.001-05:00

If there is such a thing as a dormant or subconscious OCD then I believe I've got it. I experience a real physical uneasiness/discomfort when I am aware that things are not in order, especially my things.

This is not true for everything, I've certainly had a messy apartment more than once because life just happens and sometimes you don't have time (or desire) to clean because I rather not put something away rather than put it in the WRONG place. For example my clothes are organized by type and color. Black things are always near white as they both are not part of the spectrum, and the rest is arranged from blue to green to yellow to red (I don't own a single purple item, otherwise it would always be ahead of the blue). My CD's were always grouped by artist, and groups were arranged with how much a particular artist was liked. All labels must always face the same way. There is one bin under my bed of mismatched items that don't go with anything else. Otherwise there are separate boxes all over my apt with same type stuff stored together. I always organized books by topic instead of size, well when I moved into my most recent apt, I organized few stacks by the color of the cover and the rest by size. It was quite a change for me.

iTunes libraries have been the cause of much stress for me ever since I first started using iTunes for digital music... which is waaay back in the day practically, some of you probably couldn't even walk yet (/justKidding). It's been an almost 8 year love/hate relationship.

My biggest problem with itunes has always been the way it separates songs on albums where there is a featured artist on the song. It often creates a separate album for that. I of course can not deal with that kind of mis organization. I've spent countless hours sifting through the folders and renaming things so that they make sense.

My second problem, which I have yet been able to resolve has to do with libraries on multiple computers. 3 computers total, and a backed up external hard drive from an old work computer. Right now the artillery includes a PC desktop, a PC laptop and a Mac laptop.
I download songs on iTunes on whichever computer I happen to be using. Creating 3 libraries with different content. I know the easy thing to do would be to just copy and paste BUT I can't do that, I can't because all 3 have the same album files and this often creates multiple copies. I don't like to use, Copy, Replace as I'm afraid it might replace the entire folder instead of the contents and then I won't know if the folder I replaced had a song in there that was missing on the other one.
Ok I think you're starting to see my problem.

I have tried to do this by hand. Opening each folder, seeing what songs were in it and then making that the master folder... BUT I have thousands songs, this could take eternity to complete! I have actually thought about paying someone who would do this, but of course I lack the kind of trust to let another human especially a stranger to touch my computers.

So here is what I need. I need a piece of software (it HAS to be out there and doesn't have to be free) that will let me dump all my folders in one place and then easily combine those folders with the same content. Removing any duplicates in the process.

I will be eternally grateful to whoever can help me with this.

-M

So Mr. Jobs, porn is bad, yet explicit lyrics are ok?

2010-05-01T20:10:00.001-05:00

I stopped listening to the radio due to crappy overplayed selections, but I still like to catch up on what songs are popular just to see what's out there.

I do this via the Apple iTunes store by clicking "See All" on the "Top Songs" tab to preview the top 100 or so popular songs. (I like this better than the radio as it's more accurate which songs are actually popular, rather than which labels have the most pull). SIDENOTE: They used to allow seeing the top songs in each genre but I haven't bothered to figure out how to do that since a not so recent upgrade.

This feature is one of my favorites in iTunes as it indirectly shows music trends.

This is how I find new pop songs to add to my collection. I'm not even going to try and deny that I don't listen to pop music because I do. I just don't like A LOT of it that has come out in the last couple.. ok who am I kidding, last 10 years.

As I was going through the list hitting the play preview button for each song I stumbled upon the current #50 "Drop the World" by Lil Wayne & Eminem. The song is marked EXPLICIT. I hit play and listened to exactly 30 seconds of curse words. The repertoire consisted of everything from the N word (Nigger, or Nigga), Motherfucker, Shit, Bullshit, Fucken, and Bitch. The song itself is not the problem here, the problem is that I just very recently read an article how Steve Jobs is trying to uphold some moral police standards on Apple products and restricts any applications featuring pornography.

A TechCrunch article quotes him

You know, there’s a porn store for Android. You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go – so we’re not going to go there.

Read more: http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/19/steve-jobs-android-porn/#ixzz0mjE3w8au

So Mr. Jobs, you don't want to go there with pornography because of the kids? Oh really? Trust me I agree with you that children should not be exposed to porn, I'm sure countless studies have been done on the subject, where early exposure may lead to adult promiscuity, but if you're going to administer policing on content please be consistent.

iTunes is FULL of songs and videos that are just a smidge away from the gates of Gomorrah* itself. If you're so incredibly concerned about the children, why not make it just a tiny bit harder to download explicit content and be fair in which content is allowed. Do you realize how easy it is for kids to use their parents credit cards to purchase things. What kind of verification do you use to make sure the explicit content is not being downloaded to a child's iTunes account?

Let's end the hypocrisy.

*Please note I'm using Gomorrah as an overall metaphor for sexual content, and not specific to homosexuality as it is often misused.

GLAMOUR I get it - Scarlett Johansson is expensive

2010-04-27T14:59:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite new sites is magxone.com It's a depository of fashion magazine covers and photo spreads from all over the world. While browsing today I had to do a double take...

Here are the May 2010 Glamour covers featuring Scarlett Johansson in Glamour Paris and Glamour Spain (respectively)

Here the image is being used for Allure Korea Feb 2010

Here it is in Glamour Russia Feb 2010

Original cover appeared on Glamour US Nov 2009 Issue

I think they really got their money's worth on this photoshoot!

Ps. My favorite spreads featuring Scar Jo are InStyle May 2010 scarlett-johansson-instyle-us-may-2010/ and French Vogue April 2009 scarlett-johansson-french-vogue-april-2009/

Ps2. EDIT: I just noticed how Sex Appeal is written in English on the Spanish version. Is there no translation for that?

Leaping into Video Blogging

2010-04-24T11:41:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I got this brilliant idea to do a video blog. I kind of have been curious about it and have been trying to muster up the courage to actually go through with making my own video.

Mistake #1 I haven't actually thought about what exactly my video blog would be about, the only thing I knew is that I wanted to try it. What this means is that I wasted about 2 hours re-recording the clip over and over again trying to talk about different topics. 30 min of that was wasted on fixing my makeup and posing to make sure I look good ;) I also realized that in many occasions I was NOT acting normal, well at least not entirely myself.. OR I just don't realize that's what I look like when I'm nervous.. YIKES! If anything this will be a good way for me to see how I look and sound like when talking to people. I cringed rewatching it whenever I said "uhm". How annoying of me.

So maybe for the next one I will simply answer some questions. Either ask anonymously via formsrping.me/fabgeekling or leave a comment on the blog.
And if you're interested you can subscribe to my youtube channel to keep up with my video making adventures. I ordered iMovie and will also be looking for some software that does screen capture so maybe I could try and do some tutorials that way. It certainly would be a lot easier than doing them with all the screenshots.

PowerPoint 2010 BETA Available To Everyone

2010-04-20T14:34:00.000-05:00

First I have to say that I'm offended and hurt that Microsoft has not asked me to participate in their closed beta of Office 2010. I'm like the only person on this planet that doesn't hate PowerPoint. No hard feelings though Bill Gates... I will create a presentation to clearly announce my disappointment... using Keynote.

Actually I'm a little ashamed I did not know the beta was in effect. I guess with all that happened last year I sort of missed this. I am downloading the PC beta (have to research about Mac versions) as I write and will be doing a thorough fabgeekling test on it the next few days.

I will be comparing it to PPT 2007 (PC), PPT 2008 (Mac) and Keynote (Mac) as my search for the ultimate presentation software continues.

My critique didn't go unnoticed

2010-04-20T10:37:00.000-05:00

So apparently the people who created the graphs for Mashable, which I hated and blogged about, took note of my little rant about bad PowerPoint design and updated their charts. One of their folks left a comment on the blog with a link to the new versions. I'm not sure my point was to copy me almost exactly but I guess I'm flattered AND I admire their willingness to take a rather harsh critique and improve their work. It's imperative to be able to do that in order to grow creatively.

To view their new post head over to the JainRain blog.

But here is a look at the evolution of one of the charts.

Their original version:

My suggested version:

Their updated version

So what do you guys think?

Vintage and Neo Backgrounds Resource

2010-04-10T17:32:00.000-05:00

I found this amazing site today http://www.5qm.de/ via colourlover.com

12 pages of sample wallpaper swatches

You can click each one for enlargement, and then save the image as a jpg. Some take a little more fiddling than others for them to tile.But within a few minutes you can have an awesome background! Many damask designs under the NEO category which are extremely popular with the bride folk.

Here are just a few samples:

Not understanding data = Infographic Mistakes (a look at Unboxing the iPad Data)

2010-04-10T12:48:00.002-05:00

In order for me to deem an infographic "good", it has to possess two things (among few others) 1) Pleasant Aesthetic and 2) Intuitive and accurate representations of the data.

I spotted the "Unboxing the iPad Data" infographic @LenKendall's posterous stream.

My initial thought was: "wow, pretty nice design", it looks clean and polished. But then I started actually reading the information.

Look at this cute little pie chart. It's adorable. I like the font choice and colors and overall visual aesthetic of it. But looking at it closely, does it actually make sense? For one, you're comparing prices. A pie chart would only make sense if these were the percentages of 4.99 and 1.99 apps sold of the combined apps sold. But from the looks of it, this is attempting to compare the actual numbers 1.99 and 4.99. The blue color is suppose to signify 4.99 and white 1.99. Putting the label and the pie piece in the same color, usually signifies that the label ONLY applies to that pie piece.

What this shows is the percentage of 1.99 in 4.99, which is ~40%, that's exactly the white area of the pie.
Which means the entire pie is 4.99, and this puts the price of the iPad apps at 60% (if they are represented by the blue color) of 4.99 which comes out to ~2.99

Not only is the use of a pie chart to compare these prices illogical, the representation of the numbers is incorrect. This would have been an ideal job for a mini stacked bar graph. The idea behind this graph is that the iPad app price has increased by 60% of the iPhone app.

NOTE: I had to revise this last section as originally I miscalculated.

This part of the infographic is trying to show how 1 day iPad sales compare to 1 million iPhones sold, which took, 70 days to achieve. Again the proportions are way off, and it really doesn't look all that impressive. In order to do that, you have to show how small an average day for iPhone sales was. Flipping the bars sideways can add emphasis to the time factor.

Why does everyone insist on using a map every time data has something to do with cities/states? The circles are meant to represent the percentages of iPads sold for each state. The only problem is, it's really hard to tell what those percentages are. Unless you've got a caliper handy (which I actually do) the scale at the bottom, is rather "general". Each one of those circles on the map is a different number.

If you just look at it, it does look quite pretty, but this is an INFOgraphic. It looks like everyone on the east coast got an iPad, where in reality it's about 5% per state. And were there really no iPad buyers in Wisconsin? I highly doubt that.

One suggestion would be to do a bar graph with only those cities with data... use the map as a backdrop or get rid of it completely.

If you take away anything from this -- a good looking infographic could actually represent the information quite poorly.

PowerPoint Tips: Custom Toolbar

2010-04-08T14:58:00.000-05:00

Since I went on bashing the @mashable posted graphs yesterday I've decided that the best way to teach people not to make those mistakes is to show them some tips and tricks that might make you PPT making life a little easier. I have learned to tolerate PPT simply because I had to use it for work... and it's grown on me over the last couple of years.

As with any project in order to begin work you must have your tools ready. If you were painting a picture you wouldn't go get individual paints from your cupboard as you needed them. You'd have everything you need right there with you, for a seamless work flow. So I start my PowerPoint Tutorials with the Custom Toolbar.

Today's tutorial is for the PC PowerPoint 2007* users. The Mac 2008 is very different so there will be separate tutorials for the Mac folks

(*side note: if you're using a version lower than 2007, you need to upgrade. You're completely missing out!)

To add tools to your Custom "Ribbon" toolbar.. Follow route 1 or 1B

Click Customize then All Commands and you will be able to add any command available for you to use into your Quick Bar. Here are some that I think are good basics.

Some of these I use as keyboard shortcuts (which again will differ for Mac users)

Pick up Style = Ctrl+Shift+C

Apply Style = Ctrl+Shift+V

Group = Ctrl+G

Ungroup = Ctrl+Shift+G

Undo = Ctrl+Z (probably my most used shortcut)

Nudge = Ctrl + Up OR Down OR Left OR Right

Hey @mashable... who made your graphs? - a look why PowerPoint presets suck

2010-04-07T21:20:00.001-05:00

As I was browsing my morning twitter feed I spotted a tweet by @mashable : Facebook and Google Dominate Online Identity War [STATS] The word Stats is what made me look... I knew this would contain some sort of an infographic.

I couldn't believe my eyes...a reputable tech company posted what normally would be giving me a heart attack at work... Graphs using PowerPoint presets (it's not like they were the MOST dominating feature on the page /sarcasm).

This of course...1) Saddens me (read as pissed me off to the point where I spent an hour recreating them and writing this post) 2) Refer to #1 side note

Someone will look at these and think... wow Mashable posted this... they seem like they know what they are talking about. These graphs must be awesome. :::::HULKSMASH!!!!!!::::

This is why people HATE PowerPoint. Most of the things that come out of it are so incredibly BAD and GENERIC, and somehow we (not including me and few other awesome people) have accepted this. Allowing this type of garbage on reputable sites will never break the cycle of the oh so hated horrendous PowerPoint slides.

Click on images for bigger view. And you can view their post here to see the graphics without my added notes.

Pie Chart

Where do I even start... how about center the title on your "page". Making sure pages/slides have nice alignment is important across ALL design media... INCLUDING PowerPoint.

Why would you include a legend that serves absolutely no purpose. The labels are big enough to read on their own. Speaking of labels.. these are all companies vastly recognized by their logos... why not use them?

My revised version:

Be consistent in placing your labels. This type of "continuity" makes it easier to process information as it's clearly laid out. Also make sure the labels stand out.

But wait....

Since the Article points out that Google and Facebook are the ones who dominate... why not put those into focus? Rotate them to one side to show a clear distinction that it's those two vs. the rest.

Isn't that better? A lot easier to tell visually that google and facebook have OVER half of this market. Isn't that what would have been said using words?

I won't talk in depth about the Bar Graphs... all the same rules apply. Consistency, readability and context.

Bar Graphs

My revised version:

How much do you love me? =)

2010-04-06T21:57:00.001-05:00

People... here is t3h deal... I was asked to participate in the featured gamer promo on the ForceDisconnet.com site and of course I agreed. I like to support new gaming communities and this site literally sprung into action few weeks before announcing this contest.

So now I need you lovely people to do me a very tiny favor.

I need folks to vote for me so that at the end of the year my Gamer Profile has the most votes. I will win.. well bragin' rights.. and a gift card to spend on any game my little heart desires.

Voting is VERY easy. All you have to do is register on their site and leave a comment on my profile here: http://forcedisconnect.com/2010/03/07/featured-gamer-3710/
THAT's it! Just one vote per person!

I will really appreciate it if you do so... and it will certainly not go unnoticed...(especially since you leave your name with the vote)