Like me you probably have a few accounts to interweb applications such as Facebook, Twitter and Gmail. You go about your days balancing and juggling the notifications and messages that appear and then fade away immediately, asking you to do action something, somewhere.

Its not that easy is it?.

Ive been using Threadsy a bit, its quite handy, but very busy.

To be fair, I am probably what they call a heavy user, however, there are people who make me look part-time.

So, I watch 5 Gmail accounts, 4 twitter accounts, 1 Facebook, 1 Basecamp project, 6 Wordpress Blogs, and now I have a Google Wave account to try and figure out how to work with.

Then there are the background sites you sometimes use, Flickr, Digg, Delicio.us, online banking, the list goes on.

Fun, but only for a while, then you might well go mad with overloading.

So whats all this Google Wave about then ?

Google Wave Fiction… funny stuff… but will it be helpful ?

I am genuinely hoping that Wave is a lot more than some over-hyped geek-babble..  but im being realistic… even if it is, my life will stay pretty complicated.

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Movemeber has been going for a few years now. Its popular all around the world, having started I believe in Australia.

Ok, its not like doing the London Marathon, or a parachute jump, but it is an easy and accessible way for people to take part in a charity event, raise some cash and have some fun doing it. The charity the money goes to is The Prostate Cancer Charity.

The Movember promo video;

There really is no-more to explain, its about raising money for a good cause, and growing some facial hair. Shave clean on 31st October and choose a stlye to grow into… (see below for style guide…)

Do one of two things now;

1) commit to growing a Mo, and get some people to sponsor you, or,

2) put your hand in your pocket and hand over some cash for the cause.

Im going to be taking part along with a number of other friends, and im going to document it with daily mug-shots on the web.

Click here to join my team – http://uk.movember.com/register/17780

Click here to send some cash to the cause by sponsoring me. – https://www.movember.com/uk/donate/your-details/member_id/62974

Dig-deep people !!!

Movember Style-guide…

Movember Styles

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Its easy to become complacent and take things for granted.

I do this more often than I recognise. I used to find it very rewarding working with and teaching people who knew much less then me, and it made me think about what it was I was actually teaching them.

Working with the interweb is … just easy for me now. Mac, PC, Linux, HTML/CSS bugs, open source, doc types, user agents, bit-rates, it all makes sense to me.

So when I found these video posted by Google (via penn-olson), I was reminded that the world is full of people who know much less than I assume.

It is no surprise that Google are the people behind this PR / awareness stunt, they are battling to get into the Browser market, and, more importantly, they are aiming to deliver A LOT of media and services through the browser moving forward, to the point of which, the Chrome OS will feel a lot more like a browser than a traditional OS like Windows.

Here’s the spiffy little ‘info-mercial’ they knocked-up to help all those people unable to distinguish a website from a piece of software. (Do they really think any of them will find it ??)

So anyway….  nice of them to help everybody out…  – but, i doubt we will all be so keen to lose our desktops as Google hope…

In the meantime, be sure and choose the right browser for your needs…

*cough* Firefox FTW !

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Last week I wrote a brief post on whether social media was the 4th major platform.

Since then a couple of things have popped onto the radar to further reinforce the fact that social media is a game changer.

In no particular order;

Brands in Public appeared late last week -  launched by Seth Godin,  a joint-founder of squidoo.com – and is well respected in the social media world. The site lets you take a look at how the online social media world views your brand via Tweets, blogs Youtube video and more. This is a more focused version of what Squidoo offers as a ‘lens’, but for brands.

Brands – big ones – are starting to care about how people talk about them online, and solutions and tools for addressing this are sprouting-up.

However, Lisa Barone, herself a well respected social media professional, doesn’t think its such a great idea as her blog-post – Seth Godin tries out brandjackin – sets-out.

Whichever side your on here, the fact is – there is a dialogue going on about how brands are managed in the social sphere.

Then, on friday, I was lucky to catch Owen Stevens, (via Altitude Recruitment – @lauramaddison), for a short talk about branding. Everything was going as it should untill he referenced the Erik Qualman Youtube video about social media (yes the one on the front of this site) in his presentation. It was great to hear someone standing in front of you say that ‘yes, you were doing the right thing’, and that it is worth persevering with trying to get clients and brands to adopt the platform/technology.

And then this morning, Dan Thornton of 140Char posted about Pistachio Consulting, and the Twitter ‘app’ guide they have produced. The thing here is that Pistachio consulting specialise in social media and micro-blogging platforms – good enough for me, that’s a bona-fide business…  and just to make sure, it has its own conferences – Social Media in Business Conference, London and Media140 – reaching right around the world.

So, just to clarify, brands are all over the social media web world, they have tools, are manged, businesses are run solely for this purpose, they have conferences – all around the world – and its gaining more and more momentum and exposure.

*nudge*

Time to talk to someone who knows about this sort of stuff ?

Another social media explanation video via Youtube.

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Ive recently been toying with the concept that we have four major platforms in out midst.

Everyone will have their own take on this, but I see, Tv, internet and mobile as the three core platforms.
And in the last few years, we’ve seen the rise social media.

Social Media

I guess you could say that gaming presents a significant platform (XBox, Playstation Wii), but I wont, not today.

Its been happening for a while, Sky Tv will provide your internet, Orange will also give you a web connection, at home and mobile. Things have been converging for a while. Now it’s happening in the experience too – TV, web and mobile all share the same content, you decide what to consume and how.

Now, one of my current projects actively address’s the old ‘core’ three, mobile, tv and web, but im having issues convincing them that we need to place as much, if not more, focus on social media.

I wasnt sure myself, but ive found a couple of resources that have helped build a picture for me;

Socialnomics. This book was sent to me by one of my followers on twitter, there is a story and an idea, but thats another post. The book lays-bare the facts that we need to know to understand the power of social media. After-all if they can make someone President of the United States, it might have some power.

Next, I found this site. The slide and video below are from that site. They allude to this – we can measure the impact of social media, and therefore it is valid as a channel/platform.
(The slides are in-depth and not necessarily good for everyone, but they are correct. )

Social Media ROI by @brandbuilder from Kipp Bodnar on Vimeo.

Whats happening is new. Brands are communicating with customers in an entirely new way. And that’s all that matters.

The communication drives the change or solution that you need, be it greater revenues, smaller costs, better CRM or launching a new business.

The way you interact with customers through social media provides them with a personal service unlike anything they have had before.

And, importantly, the best thing about social media is – it finds the user/customer.

That’s why its as much of a channel as the long established TV, or the emerging mobile world. And to those who say social media and the internet are the same, let me make that assumption. They will be left behind.

Social media find its own users, by referral, by commenting, by subscribing, by becoming a fan, and much more. But you still have to get into the game, its not the same as having a website, or even a blog.

Video via the Socialnomics website.

Understand the power of social media before you write it off. It’s responsible the for USA having the first non-caucasian president. ever.

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For the past few days Ive been following the contest at Trestles live on the web at http://www.hurley.com/hurleypro/live.cfm.

This is nothing odd, as ive watched most of the ASP events this year in the exact same way.

But in the corner of my eye for the last 5 days has been the little Hurley/Facebook logo from the corner, announcing that the expression session is going to be live on Facebook.

Curiosity got the better of me and I had to go check it out.

Hurley Logo

It turns out Hurley are pretty on-it in terms of Social Media and Networking…. and the Facebook site is just beginning.

http://www.facebook.com/Hurley

http://www.twitter.com/hurleylive

http://apps.facebook.com/hurleypro/?_fb_fromhash=4f8acfc4f79855cede6e234f91dca3f4

Between the event site, the fan pages, the live event on Facebook, and live updates via Twitter, there is plenty of info out there.

And the most interesting part is how Facebook has become a broadcast and event partner, standing side-by-side with Hurley to present the event. Considering the event winner’s purse was set at $105,000 – ensuring it set a new record – thats quite a big event to be hanging-out with, especially at home in Southern California.

Facebook is really storming-ahead, the lite.facebook site, the @replies functionality, its not Twitter that should be worried – its the market-place as we know it.

They are breaking new ground. We’ll watch as they advance..

Side-note;

If your really keen to get a varied social-media account of the Trestles event, you should check-out the Hobgoods – these guys have also got a good grasp on the Social Media world.

http://www.blog.thegoodss.com/hobgoods-227/

http://twitter.com/hobgoods

http://vimeo.com/user723842

and.. the ASP has a Youtube channel you can get the videos from…  here’s the Expression Session highlights.

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Ive long bemoaned the quality of the camera on the iPhone, along with everyone else. It needs to be better, in general and in all areas.
Better low light, more control over the lens, a flash would be nice, you know all the things every camera should be.

Like a good tech-geek, you struggle-on and make the most from what you have, and dutifully, I’ve found some good advantages to having a camera in my pocket that’s connected to the web.

Recently, with a little inspiration, ive been taking more photos that i like with the camera and getting to know it better.

Work area - Swinhoe Industries - Taken with the iPhone

As you will read if you visit his site, Chase Jarvis is a photog. of the most epic proportions, shooting for the biggest names in the sports, leisure and tech world. He is especially well known for his use of his iPhone to post daily pictures that come under the category “Chase Jarvis takes better shots with an iPhone than I do with a Hasselblad“.

And as he says, “the best camera is the one that’s with you”.

But there are a few other tips, supplied by Chase, to make the photos coming off your iPhone that bit better, and I too have enjoyed the benefits of them.

Camerabag is a truly great app, having received huge accolade from a number of places, and ive used it on the shots in this post.

The doggie being shy.. (there is extra 'grey' on the base of this from the filter)

Hanging about - taken with iPhone - tweaked with Camerabag

I like them. The filters come out well generally and make the photos taken much more usable and distributable.

Chase Jarvis is a savvy guy, follow his blog if you take photos regularly, but he’s not only about photos. He has mastered the world of  Social Media, using it to connect with his audience and web users in a full-frontal attack.

He’s on twitter, he blogs – regularly, he posts RAW video posts to Youtube, he’s on Facebook, he podcasts (iTunes link)…

The guy has been posting from New Zealand for the last week whilst he’s been shooting a job. Its great to follow him and the crew and get the insights to how things happen.

Im still in the iPhone, alot, and with a selection of decent shots coming from the camera, im not hating using it anymore.

Go shoot something…

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Its been a number of years since i last played with High Dynamic Range photography, but I read a recent post by Stammy that opened the can of worms again for me.

I picked-up the camera and walked out to take a few shots.

My setup was the Nikon D70 (yes, in know,its VERY old now) and a lovely 12-24 Tokina Wide-angle that ive had for a year or two, along with the obligatory tripod.

Im not going to go into the How’s, What’s and Why’s of HDR as Stammy does a way better job.

I took shots at different locations, but im going to focus on one composition to illustrate the process as an example of what HDR looks like for me

Here’s the three brackets shots and the final HDR version.

Under

On exposure

Over

The HDR

Now in reality, these shots dont do a very good job exploiting what HDR has to offer, they lack foreground detail and the natural landscape looks more hyper-real than a cityscape or urban setting.

But you ge the idea.

Once you have the thee exposures, you can sit and tweak away for hours and create a widely varied set of results.

What I’ve come to realise is – I’m not that big a fan of HDR. The over produced look of it is useful for a few occasions, but its not my cup of tea for most jobs. For example the subtle tonal variations of the sunset on the ‘On exposure’ shot are lost when the balance of the light in the rest fo the frame is changed – I know you could tweak away with this for hours, but I like the dark, moody feeling it brings to the table.

You need to figure these things out for yourself… go take it for a spin.

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Im not much of a gamer – I don’t have a working console of any format, but I am a big Beatles fan. So when a friend asked if I wanted to have a bash on the new Beatles Rock Band game, I jumped on it.

(Especially since the expected iTunes/Beatles announcement didn’t happen yesterday….)

Ive played the Guitar Hero and other variants over the last few years, and had fun, but the Beatles version had more draw for me – I knew I would know almost all the songs.

Straight to the point – it rocks. Not only do you get the amazing sounds of loads of the Beatles songs that you know, but the interface and – the best bit IMO – the graphics are stunning.

They really have done a great job of visualising the Beatles with stylised animation and illustration.

I especially loved the way that the graphics evolved with the music right through the 60’s and the various styles the Beatles had.

Even the hardware was pretty good, with styled, well-built guitars and drums that matched the 60’s equipment the band used.

Of course, the set we had really did it justice. Having a 50 inch wall mounted HDTV, with XBox360, PS3, WiI, SKYHD and a BluRay player, generally means that your gonna have a good experience.

We did upset the neighbors too, so I’m guessing that’s a good sign .

Ok back to work for me… go play it for yourself – if your a Beatles fan, you’ll love it.

The game is on Amazon for about £40, but the pack we used last night was the Premium Bundle at £179.

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Time for an update I think. Its been too long already.

I was reading a blog post last night, about why your blog doesn’t get read, most of which i agreed with. Therefore with a spurt of energy, im going to throw myself at writing more frequently and openly. Apparently its the best way.

Whats been taking-up all my time ? well, Agent Lynch has a shiny new website, powered by Wordpress, Flickr, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. We had fun making that happen. It was the first Facebook Connect integration I’ve done and was nice to see it implemented and working. Ms Lynch is a good friend of a couple of friends – if that’s even a sentence – one of whom is Roxy Velvet. It was great to get her a sit up and running that she not only liked visually, but could attack from a content point of view and really enjoy working with.

AgentLynch.com

The Facebook Connect integration was done with relative ease, using a Wordpress plugin that needed only a small amount of kicking and hacking to get working as I needed. I did in-fact use two plugins, one for the on-page login, and one for the admin/user prompt login. All the other Twitter/Flickr/Youtube bits and pieces are the standard ones ive used elsewhere.

If 6 Was 9 – its back ! – Randall has got new designs and a new movie. After filming on his trip to the Mentawai’s, he posted the video on the We are If 6 Was 9 blog. The flash site was produced by him, i just helped get the pre-loader, hosting and analytics sorted.

Slatehall Riding Centre

I did a superb little shoot last week to get some shots for a local tourism brochure and book. Slatehall Riding Centre met me on the beach along with Claire from Imapct PR and we had some fun in the shallows. Nice looking shots we all thought. The full Flickr set is here.

Bamburgh Castle

Holy Island Castle

Beach gallop

Farne Island Divers

Finally, over the bank holiday I spent the weekend with the Farne Island Divers crew diving with the seals around the Longstone. A great few days that I recorded with my little Canon compact, and the result was this small but fun video chopped together fro the video clips..

Farne Islands Divers – Diving with Seals – August 2009 from swinhoe on Vimeo.

More once Ive got something to say…

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