I asked a friend how to automatically post to Twitter and Facebook whenever I write a new blog article and he pointed me to twitterfeed.  This started an interesting Web 2.0 journey.

1. Went to twitterfeed.
2. Tried to register and realized I needed an OpenID.
3. Went to myvidoop to register for an OpenID.
4. Returned to twitterfeed and logged in using my OpenID URL.
5. Logged in to my twitter account on twitterfeed.
6. Created a bit.ly (URL shortener that does more than TinyURL) account to use with twitterfeed.
7. Created a feed for my blog.
8. Went to Facebook and added the Twitter application.
9. Linked Twitter to Facebook by clicking on the link “Want Twitter to update your Facebook status?”
   Update 07-27-2009: I now use the Tweetpo.st Facebook application instead of the Twitter Facebook application.  It is much better as described in this Mashable article.
10. Realized I needed to turn off protected status in my Twitter account.
11. Went back to Facebook and clicked on the link “Want Twitter to update your Facebook status?”
12. Posted this blog and hoped that twitterfeed works.

Update 06-02-2009: I decided to turn off twitterfeed because I did not like the tweets it created.  I realized more since to create them manually and try to enter as much information as possible since people do Twitter searches on the tweets.

Tags: facebook,twitter
Categories: Web
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I used to keep my to do’s on my white board but since I no longer have access to it I started looking for an online solution.  I first started with Netvibes To Do window and it seemed to do the job quite well.  One thing that was strange though was that if I had two Netvibes windows open on two different computers, the changes in one session don’t get reflected in the other and if you update the other then the first set of changes could be deleted.  I have yet to find a satisfactory solution to this other than making sure only one window is open.

Today I tried Remember the Milk which seems to be the most highly recommended and works with Jott and Twitter.  But I was quite unimpressed, it wasn’t too intuitive.  Even something as simple as editing took me awhile to figure out.  I then tried Ta-da Lists which is more intuitive but again I find myself going through different screens to do simple things like rearranging.  I even checked out 30 Boxes To Do list which is good but you have to go through the calendar to get to it.

Now I am back to Netvibes.  It’s To Do list is really great, it’s one small window and you can do everything in that window.  It’s about as close as you can get to a desktop application while having the convenience of online accessibility.  Overall I’ve enjoyed using Netvibes to check email on all my accounts, see my Facebook and Twitter information, check weather, RSS feeds, etc.

Tags: facebook,twitter
Categories: Web
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I have mixed emotions about Facebook.  To me it seems like AOL for the 21st century.  It is a walled off world where people can easily communicate, share photos, etc.  But for this convenience you must become a member and you must login to access this functionality.  I prefer staying out in the wild, wooly world of the Internet but sometimes I do go in because of the network effect, so many others are on it.  In fact, my cousin will only send me email through Facebook.

Anyway it has come to light that Logged in or out, Facebook is watching you.

Researchers at software vendor CA have discovered that social networking site Facebook is able to track the buying habits of its users on affiliated third-party sites even when they are logged out of their account or have opted out of its controversial “Beacon” tracking service.

I was so annoyed by this that I looked around for a way to stop this and found this article, Block Facebook Beacon.  It turns out it is rather simple to stop Facebook from tracking you if you use Firefox, install the BlockSite add-on and then add “http://*facebook.com/beacon/*” to the Blacklist.  There are also solutions for Safari

Still the whole thing is rather annoying (I have a lot of browsers I have to configure this for) and there doesn’t seem to be any indication that Facebook is going to stop doing this as they try to figure out how to actually make some money to justify that $15 billion valuation.  I hope this Facebook fad ends soon and we move to the next one, hopefully by a company we’ve never heard of.

Tags: facebook
Categories: Web
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Back at our old church, Highrock, Isaac was the favorite of one of the Sunday school teachers. As parents we of course loved the attention.

Today I learned through Facebook that Isaac is no longer this teacher’s favorite. I IM’d with this person and she verified that he has been replaced by a blonde, big blue eyed two year old!

We broke the news to Isaac but he seemed fine about it, he continued jumping on and off the arm chair. I think I’m the most upset about it.

Tags: facebook,highrock
Categories: Isaac
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