It’s like playing a massive game of bingo and it’s fun. For a while. (Now that Twitter and Facebook are both rolling out similar services, it’s going to go downhill fast)

But after about a month of using Foursquare last summer while traveling between four different cities, I cut my use way down. Why? Because it’s boring. Because there’s nothing really in it for me to whip out my iPhone every time I walk into a new place. And because no matter how hard people try, most of them aren’t that interesting, so simply sharing space doesn’t make me want to meet them.

So, in every day life, these type of services don’t make a damn bit of sense to me. The badges got boring, businesses didn’t offer anything compelling enough to check in and the minute-by-minute annoyance of people publishing their foursquare checkins to Twitter (my god, you know the app has PUSH NOTIFICATIONS, right?) prompted me to unfollow almost everyone who regularly did it. That being said, there are definitely a few reasons to stay onboard.

Showing off
You’re popular, you know the right places to hang out and you want everyone to know it. So, go ahead and check in at that popular restaurant or hip club. Really. We care.

Needy
This person checked in at home, at work, at the gas station and at the coffee shop. You want everyone to know you’re busy. Buddy, we get it. You’re awesome.

Lonely
No matter how many times you try, no one follows you to your regular hang out. Checking in every day from the same place is your way of asking them to.

Branding
You want to look and be cool, so checking in at the local co-work space or hipster coffee bar is your way of showing the world that you associate with cool things.

Conferences
For all the people at SXSW right now, I can see how useful it would be to check in while sitting right next to someone who’s doing the same. Who knows, maybe you’ll finally be able to meet a real-life, social-media rock star. Or at least you can say you did.

Stalker
You’re creepy. Let it go, man.

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

And for this, we should all be grateful.

I’ve purchased ONE piece of art in my entire life. Just one. Hugh Macleod’s art deserves to be shared. NEEDS to be shared.

So I’m looking for 100 people who want to do just that. I’m looking for 100 people who want to share what art means to them. I’m looking for 100 people to give their gift, their love of art, to others. Many others.

Whether you’re a fan of the cube grenades, the original drawings on the back of business cards or the Linchpin series, you’re invited.

Call it a community. Call it a worldwide rave. Call it a call to action.

Call it whatever you want, but I’m looking for 100 people ready to be a part of something larger than themselves.

What number are you?

The Plan
1. Find 100 Gaping Void fans.
2. Have them each pick their favorite piece.
3. Blog about it.
4. Link them all up.
5. ????
6. Fame and fortune.

(Hugh tweeted about needing a community manager. I emailed him, he called me, I volunteered.. We chatted, the idea of finding 100 people came up. That’s as far as I’ve gotten. You’d be surprised what a small, determined group of 100 people are capable of.)

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

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Arkayne recommends

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According to Scott Dadich, the creative director of Wired, “there’s a revolution in the way ppl consume journalism.” WHAT? Are readers demanding that journalism change? Do you remember asking?

The way we consume media is EVOLVING and it’s not the people that have made it happen, it’s technology. Advances in the way content is consumed has spurred all of this. The news has become decentralized, it’s able to be reported in real-time and it’s nearly gotten rid of the middle man.

But revolution? Please. Traditional media is dying because they were arrogant and assumed their business model was meant to last forever. Now they’re using words incorrectly and turned what was an industry based on supplying information to readers in an entertaining way into thinly-veiled advertising medium.

First Chris Anderson said everything should be free. Now Scott Dadich says we’re in some sort of revolution.

Wired, you’re supposed to be the leading technology publication. What happened to you? Seems Mashable is more relevant now.

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

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This past August, he was laid off. And he’s still looking for a job. But that didn’t stop him from living.

Since then he’s gone on his annual hunting trip, hiked/camped on his own and even run a half marathon for the first time. He even BEAT me.

But today he did something that surprised me. A few weeks ago, I connected him with Jason Preston of 140tc, hoping he could volunteer, like I did in Los Angeles, for the Seattle conference and get in free.

My dad has tweeted twice. He’s never used a Twitter app. He has almost no idea how Twitter works or how to use it effectively. Yet he went and worked the sign-in table.

I’m sure it was a little scary. I bet it took a little pride swallowing. I’m positive it was all a bit overwhelming.

But he did it. He learned a ton. He listened to his crazy-ass son and did something he would have never considered doing a few months ago. Stepping out of your comfort zone is hard, but he nailed it.

Dad, I’m proud of you.

UPDATE: Looks like he got a job today. He’s already asked for help redesigning their website. Oh, and he INSISTED on putting his Twitter name on his business cards, even though they looked him like he was crazy. Congrats, dad!

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

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All of these act as barriers to what’s really there. Similar to force-feedback on any gaming system, these acts are substitutes to how we really feel, how we really look and who we really are.

We say things in privately we’d never say in public, we do things behind closed doors we’d never admit to and we think things we’d never act on.

Why not? What’s the point of insulating ourselves? Are we better off with a slight buffer?

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

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Since this was the only image I had associated with him, I thought of it every time I saw a tweet from him. Slightly disturbing for sure, but way funnier.

Go ahead. Picture it. HILARIOUS, amirite?

Tweeting from the john has been renamed in my life. It’s now called “pulling a Sunny Thaper.”

Image from the Flickr collection of Adam Nollmeyer.

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

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70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

Nice find by Adam Weinstein.

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

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Is it because I’m behind on my AT&T bill? Nope. I owe just over $100, which is due in about two weeks.

Is it because I unlocked or jailbroke my iPhone? Nope, too scared to try.

Is it because I’ve gone over some data or text limit? Nope, have never exceeded my monthly allowance.

Did Steve Jobs declare that I owed him more Apple tax? Nope.

My iPhone is turned off because AT&T says they don’t have the correct mailing address for me. In all honesty, I had no idea what is up there. I’ve paid every bill, just over two years now, online with the same credit card. I’ve updated the billing address for said credit card every time I’ve moved.

But now, and with nary an email or text (to remind you, I have one of the most advanced phones ever made and AT&T OWNS THE NETWORK ITS ON) to say: “oh, hey, we’re going to turn your iPhone off if you don’t correct your mailing address. Never mind that we could email or text you this info.”

Now, in their defense, I HAVE been getting a few calls from a random 1-800 number, but, like most cell phone users who pay for minutes, I don’t often answer calls from numbers I don’t know. Oh, and did they leave a message? Once, right now, in fact.

When I try to use my phone, it tells me that my service has been suspended and directs me to pay my bill, which is up to date.

WTF AT&T?

Edit: After hopping on with the chat guy, he turned my phone back on after it being down for about three hours. But what if I hadn’t been close to my computer? What if I just missed out a huge potential client? Why in hell would they deem it acceptable to turn off anyone’s phone short of theft or owing a massive bill? What else would prompt them to flip the switch?

Edit: Called customer service, where a nice girl read a note that said my account had been suspended because of a discrepancy in my billing address. Seeing as how I’ve paid EVERY bill online and don’t receive a paper bill, this seemed odd. I asked to talk to the person who wrote the note and authorized the suspension and her answer was: “I can’t, it’s the computer.”

SkyNet turned off my phone because it couldn’t send me unsolicited mail. She did offer a $25 credit, which is ridiculous as the spring training seat I had to leave to fix this cost me $23. So when YOU screw up and forget to pay your bill on time, AT&T charges $36 to reconnect. When THEY screw up, you have to leave a SPRING TRAINING GAME to fix it, and only get $25.

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

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Arkayne recommends

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From this:

To this:

Must be the crazy pills.

(edit: Ugly baby problem)

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

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It’s no secret we rush to judgment on nearly anything we experience, especially online. For some reason we’ve come to believe the written word as truth, or even worse, fact, when we probably shouldn’t trust anything we read.

Especially on Twitter, which seems to be part rumor mill, part info aggregator and part megaphone for anyone with an opinion. When there’s a misunderstanding, it’s easy to make our own realities based on limited information.

Enter Ignite Tulsa. Seems as though one of their presenters, who was picked weeks ago, is also the recipient of a fundraising effort facilitated by attendees buying VIP tickets to Thursday’s event. The topic, FabLab, is supported by a Kendall Whittier, Inc, an ominous, corporate-sounding name until I learned that it’s a 501c3 association of four neighborhoods, a church and a university.

Since FabLab is a new company (the original idea came from MIT) this seemed like a blatant sales pitch, which most will agree is against the spirit, but not the rules, of Ignite. Uproar ensued¹.

Were they shady? Was IgniteTulsa already selling out? Why were they calling this Kendall Whittier, Inc company a charity? Don’t charities give money to poor people? Why do I even care? How/why did I get involved in critiquing ANOTHER Ignite event?

IgniteTulsa can do whatever the hell they want. If they think it’s appropriate to raise money for a cause they deem worthy, as long as it’s separate from the selection process, i’m sure most people are okay with that. Maybe this time things weren’t crystal clear, but that happens when you have a limited number of hard-working volunteers on their second event. Even our own IgnitePhx ended up having a presenter who was also a sponsor (quite accidentally) and no one suspected a damn thing.

Oh, did I mention the IgniteTulsa crew called me TWICE to clear this up? Ballsy. I give them props just for that. Good luck, IgniteTulsa. Perhaps you can introduce FabLab to HeatSyncLabs some time?

You are awesome. Thanks for riding along. @tdhurst

1. Okay, maybe it was just a few of us, but I’m loud

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