collegeboyslive.tv

Collegeboyslive is a website which is similar to justin.tv, only it has now been running for 3292 days, 22 hours... so basically it is the original justin.tv. Unlike justin.tv they have several camaras around the house and various that can be carried around following the six roomates. I just think it's strange that I haven't seen anyone pick up anywhere that this site already exists...

Facebook status to kill off Twitter? I doubt it.

NB Since I wrote this Mashable has written this article about the issue. (Take note, no uk compatability for mobile updating [same as no photo printing, or advert running]. Does something tell you that Facebook aren't taking the UK seriously? Besides the fact that anyone living in the South East can only choose London or Portsmouth as their networks, agh! Good job they've got the networking bit down!)

There has been alot of speculation regarding whether the Facebook status feature will kill off Twitter, or at least dampen it's use. To me there is no real conflict between the two. I mean I use both, ALOT admittedly, and use them completely differently.

The Facebook status is for you to tell your friends (people who know you personally) about what you are doing.
You can tell them you are going home for three months and leaving your uni house empty. You can tell them that you just saw a photo of Dave with Andrea who have previously claimed they hate each other (and then share a photo through facebooks share feature to prove it) because they will care about that information. You can tell people you are happy, or sad, or excited, and this will stand (big and proud under your name, thanks to the new facebook layout) until you change it when your mood changes. (And annoyingly you must write your status to conform with '*Your Name* is...' and if you don't type your status in the third person it appears with the grammar of a three year old). Facebook status is a fantastic Facebook extra, but this is not Twitter. Or at least this is not Twitter for me.

Twitter is about sharing web articles, sharing funny and amusing things that have happened, sharing funny and amusing thoughts, sharing deep thoughts. You don't want to tell the whole world on Twitter that your house is empty (as I have mentioned in my previous post about Twitter) for obvious security reasons. Many of your Twitter friends may not know you personally and so don't care about what Dave and Andrea have been doing. And if you mention you are happy, or sad, or excited it is a snapshot of that moment in time (not a continued feeling until you say otherwise).

And those are not the only ways Twitter is different to Facebook.

• Being able to update amusing thoughts from sms is a major plus point of Twitter for me. Often you will think of something amusing only to forget it a couple of mins later. Facebook does not offer text updating yet.
  
• Often there is something that does not warrant a whole blog post, that can be shown in 140 characters. Using Facebook status for linking articles etc is practically unknown.
  
• Each update you make is given a permalink making it easy to share other peoples thoughts, and your own, with people outside Twitter as well as the whole Twitter community. Facebook status can only be seen by your friends and your network.
  
• The Twitter public timeline and search systems such as Twittersearch and Twitterment allow you to find and follow people who interest you via phone, im or on the web.
• Addons allow flexibility of updating. You don't need to log into the site to share with the world.

One thing I would say however, is that if you are privately updating to your personal network of friends it is possible the similarities between Facebook status and Twitter would be more pronounced.
But these are different services, providing very different things. Facebook status is just one of the many things Facebook offers. Twitter is about broader social networking, beyond your group of friends. Eventually as Facebook develops its features further, and Twitter begins to add more complex features and options, they may become more similar. However suggestions that either of these services is intruding on the other to any real degree at this point just seems silly.

Shinyshiny article: Why I love Facebook
Twitterati Article: Will Facebook kill off Twitter?

Cute Robotic Dinosaur

This is possibly the cutest fake dinosaur I have ever seen... although looking at it it looks like it might be a velociraptor, clearly they weren't freaked out by Jurassic Park.

Busy

I'm having a busy couple of weeks and so this is just a quick post to say, as potentially seen by my twitter feed, I have not disappeared off the face of the planet. I have simply been catching up with friends and family, writing a carriage of goods by sea essay and preparing for BUSA nationals which is this coming week. Hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter, and I should be back blogging properly in about a week.

Facebook Diaries Finally Launches!

I'm so glad it has finally happened because I have actually been telling people about this for months and they haven't believed me. I can't remember where I first read it either BUT it is true. Facebook are working alongside Ziddio (a video sharing site) to have Facebook users create video diary entries about their lives, of which the best will be shown on tv (and i remember from the earlier rumour possibly as a film at the cinema). I think this project will be very interesting, loving as I do finding out about people. Will it catch on? Certainly, everyone I know eventually gives in and loves Facebook, alot of people want to be famous, it combines the two! Will I be entering video diary entries about my life? Probably not. Will I watch some? Almost certainly. The Facebook Ziddo group is here.

Happy April Fools

Today has apparently already started with a host of bizarre lies April fools. Mashable has reported Google Paper which apparently is sending documents via snail mail with associated adverts (i think that is definately a fool), and if you head on down to the Google search page there is a lovely link to Google TiSP, which is apparently new breakthrough broadband that Google want to give you for free! It works through the sewer system and it's even vacuum sealed to prevent water damage... umm yes...

Keep your wits about you and Happy April Fools Day!

NB just discovered The Daily Puppy... is... for one day only... The Daily Guppy.

Facebook are also in on the act. Among my favourites are :
- Harry and Voldemort have listed their relationship as 'mortal enemies'
- Introducing LivePoke. Facebook will today send a real live person to poke a friend of your choice*. (*Offer only open to the first 100 pokers per network).

Size Zero Debate

I thought that this brief comment on Brandish.tv was interesting as it is a view of size zero women from a male perspective. It is so often discussed by us women, being all about looking good for work, for other women, for ourselves, so what of the men? Size zero does not appeal to the writer at Brandish. Does it appeal to you?

Justin.tv

Justin has a headcam strapped to his head. This headcam links to Justin.tv. This means you can see what he sees 24 hours a day. I'm struggling a little with this concept - check out the camera he has on his head, it is huge, everyone would know he was filming. And as far as I can work out he is a major net geek (not that there is anything wrong with net geeks but this means that when he talks about the net I don't understand...). Also on the site users can constantly comment on what they see in a little chat room under the video. This could potentially be interesting when there is something interesting going on, but right now he is sleeping! (Major time difference because he is in the US).

I am seriously struggling writing this because i'm truely unsure what I think about it. Two things are certain though, Justin has been live for 9 days, 10 hours, five minutes right now, and he has no intention of hanging up his camera anytime soon.

200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in Britain

Today marks the 200th anniversity of the abolition of the slave trade here in Britain.

The BBC News website has several stories following this including this one about a religious walk that took place through London led by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York yesterday.

And here is information on the government website about the bi-centenary and the history of slavery, and here on the same site is a list of events to mark the abolition.

Twittervision 12 hour warning

I've taken to hiberating my laptop while revising, and leaving net pages up etc without using them for several days. I think it must be the computer version of having a messy bedroom. For some reason revision seems to bring out my messy side. I think it is having one million things out at once; textbooks, handwritten notes, handouts, typed notes, statute books, paper and pens to make notes on etc.

Anyway imagine my surprise when I switched my laptop on to find this screen (photo). Twittervision actually has a twelve hour warning system, I assume calculated according to when you logged in considering my laptop was off for about fourteen hours (I am really not sad enough to watch it for that long). And i'm wondering why they bother to have it... (except obviously to remind people like me to clean up our internet windows). Logically speaking it must mean people are watching Twittervision for 12 hours, and it might be just me but isn't that slightly concerning?!

'How I Changed the World Today' blog

How I Changed the World Today is the personal blog of a woman called Julia. She blogs every day about one thing that she has done towards changing the world. It is very interesting to read, and although not completely relevant to us in the UK because we obviously can't join the same initiatives etc., it could be a breeding group for ideas to join or start similar projects over here.

Twitter Drinking Game

Blog post about this here.

Twit This

I know i always seem to be talking about Twitter, and I do apologise, but it is a very fast growing site will lots of new addons appearing every minute. There is Twitterific for Mac, and Twitteroo for Windows, Twittervision which I have posted about previously, and a whole host of other progammes and sites. The newest is Twit This which I have just added to my site on the right. This allows people to link your site easily by turning it into a Tiny Url (which I have also previously posted about), and then adding it to Twitter. It is a simple concept but potentially quite effective if alot of people added it to their pages, allowing sharing of what you are reading to be quick and easy. However I think i'm going to stick with my Tiny Url on my toolbar for now since constantly linking your own site is neither fun, nor particularly ethical or nice, and I have yet to see Twit This anywhere else.

Mashable discusses Twit This here.
TwitterBuzz shows the most popular twitter links here.

kiva.org

Kiva.org gives you the opportunity to loan money to entrepreneurs in developing countries in order to help them establish their businesses. Over the period of the loan (usually 6-12 months) you can also receive email journal updates from the business that you are sponsoring. The way I think this site triumphs over other more established charities is that it allows you to choose who you lend to. Often the inability to keep track of exactly what your money is being used for is what prevents people from giving money to charity. You can view profiles and people's businesses. You know directly who you are helping.

Apparently the people who are featured have been chosen specifically by Field Partners such as CREDIT (who among other things organise loans to vulnerable women), and ACTION NOW KENYA, to ensure that you are likely to have your money repayed. To date kiva.org has a 100% repayment rate to lenders, but there is no security so in theory you could 'lose' your money. You gain no interest from your loan but to my mind this is irrelevant because of the impression you will be making on someone's life. And if you do not get your money repayed then surely it is still worth it for giving someone a chance.

You can choose how much of the money the borrower needs that you loan (you can loan from only $25), and so their total money can be borrowed from a large number of lenders. If you have some spare money, and want to give to a worthy cause I think this might be the way forward. This is helping people to help themselves without crippling interest rates that would usually attach to perceived 'high risk' enterprise.

You can follow KivaThon on Twitter.

twittervision

There is nothing I can say about twittervision except wow... and you could spend hours watching this. It's like having a constant public timeline, showing you all twitter updates in real time, on a googlemap. Twitter on a whole new level. It's worth looking at just for the one-off experience. Only now i'm not sure what to do, it just goes on and on and on... I'm thinking good if you want to find interesting people to add, bad if you want to do something productive, or have a life. I'm already slightly bored and feel a bit like a loser for watching it and like i'm watching time tick away. That might however just be because I have so much to do. I'm not sure. Make up your own mind, but do make sure you check it out at least once.

Quotes

How is it that wise people manage to say things so eloquently when I can barely manage to explain a fully formed concept I have in my head in under 100 words (OK so slight exaggeration but I'm not quote-worthy by any stretch of the imagination).

Just a few examples:
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. ~Oscar Wilde

Better to keep your mouth shut and appear a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt. - unknown

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy? - Albert Einstein

I particularly love the Albert Einstein quote because it really flows and seems to ring true. It explains so much more beautifully than 'either I'm insane or they are insane? aggggggggggggggghhh which is it?' Doesn't quite have the same impact does it?

Big links to small links at tinyurl.com

Just discovered a highly useful thing for anyone who uses Twitter, and has issues with posting links due to the 140 character limit. At tinyurl.com you type in your full length link and it throws a small length one back at you. I'm sure it also has other uses other than Twitter but I can't think of any. Perhaps to avoid links looking majorly scary by containing 6 lines of osgnakdnfkjanfjanfjklslnfdkldjnajkfndskjnfsjnfaskjdal at the end.

For a minimising example
This is the traditional link from the BBC Website of the story about whether our British Accents can create success in the US: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6470095.stm

And this is the tinyurl link for the same article: http://tinyurl.com/33ue5d

Reduced from 45 characters to 25 characters just like magic. That's an extra twenty characters of your twitter freed. Are you amazed? I was.

Revision Fun?!

I'm finding it really hard to revise so I thought i might do a google search to see what I could do to make revision 'fun'. It turned out to be just about as helpful as going to a careers advisor without a clue about what you want to do. The best suggestion I found was posted on the bbc website here among other less helpful suggestions.

The idea is that everytime you are texting your friends you put something you need to remember for the exam at the end of the text. Sounds good right? Well it would be except
1) Law isn't really the kind of thing you can revise with short text sentances unless you leave out all the case law eg For IP. Patents you need an Invention, Novelty, Inventive Step and Industrial Application. Ok so that is a whole text in itself, and then what about the case law for each section, where in the Act can you find them etc.
2) None of the people I text do my subjects which effectively makes it impossible. Would have been useful when I was doing my gcses though, maybe I should suggest it to my brother...

Blooks and Turning a Blog into one

I learnt a new internet term today. A 'blook' is apparently a blog/website that has been turned into a book. I'm always amazed by the rate that new words are apparently added to our language. I'd only just got used to the word 'blog'. But anyway, moving on, The Lulu Blooker Prize 2007 has announced it's shortlist. So if you are interested in discovering what a 'blook' really is, then have a browse.

Also this article from shinyshiny gives suggestions of how you could turn your blog into a blook if it takes your fancy!

CelebrityDogWatcher.com

The world of celebrity seems to have gone slightly mad of late, and much as I am lothe to admit it i'm being sucked in. First it began last year with Pink Is The New Blog, and now I have discovered celebritydogwatcher.com which is even more random. This site is dedicated to pictures of celebrities with their dogs and I have to step forward, be brave and state, yes i'm slightly hooked (although for some reason Mischa Barton and her dog Ziggy seem to get more than their fair share of coverage). After much rationalisation I think i'm becoming hooked (or am telling myself i'm becoming hooked) because I love dogs, and I think the dog you choose says alot about you as a person. Golden Retriever can mean your a softy at heart, Chihuahua (particularly the long haired variety) generally means you are a bit of a poser and don't want the hassle of what I would consider to be a 'proper' dog, anything terrier like means that you like a bit of attitude/character etc. But then again maybe the celebrities don't choose their own dogs anyway, or is that a little over cynical?! Either way looking at the site once a month gives a little bit of light relief, another dose of some cute dogs, and a dose of the odd cute celebrity (Adam Brody in the picture for example).

ps on a Law note, due to Intellectual Property this year i'm now highly paranoid i'm going to infringe some IP rights, eg Copyright regarding photographs but I think i'm safe as long as I make sure I source where I have borrowed them from... Gosh sometimes the phrase 'ignorance is bliss' is more than a little true when it comes to law, knowledge can make things so darn complicated. Lol although i'd rather know than not know if I was going to commit a criminal offence, and then be able to not commit it!

So...
The picture is from this post at celebritydogwatcher.com.