"Facebook for Beginners" Gently Leads New Users Through the Maze

Facebook for Beginners (facebookforbeginners.blogspot.com) is a new blog of mini-lessons for people new to Facebook. It's "to-the-point and caffeine-free."

 

In writing for Facebook for Beginners, I try to keep posts as short and sweet as possible. I want to help new users overcome their fears and just wade into it one random step at a time. Facebook can be very intimidating, especially for someone for whom the Internet is a foreign land of scary Porn and Codes and Viruses and Stalkers.

New users often have a lot of random, elementary, or seemingly unimportant questions, such as:
Can I delete this email I got from Facebook?

How can I send a message to all of my Facebook friends at once?

What's a wall?

But in fact it's those types of odd questions which, if brushed off and left unanswered, can linger in the mind and get in the way of learning. Facebook for Beginners is designed to answer those odd questions so new users can become veterans as soon as possible.

Every post is a random definition, how-to, or informational tidbit about using Facebook. (Don't worry, articles can also be searched or browsed via archive and tag cloud, all organized-like.)

You most certainly know someone you can direct to that blog. Is it your dad? Your grandmother? A co-worker who has stopped scoffing whenever you mention Facebook and is now curious about it? Someone from Alpha Centauri who has never seen one of our primitive human laptops?

When you figure out who that is, direct them to facebookforbeginners.blogspot.com.

I am looking forward to buying this little number.

It's a stand-alone portable PA with inputs for a mic, three instruments and a CD/iPod. All the reviews say it's a steal.

http://www.google.com/m/products/detail?client=safari&hl=en&oe=UTF-8&source=s...

I ordered this microphone.

 

It's a Blue Microphones enCORE 100 Dynamic Vocal Mic. It directly competes with the Shure SM58, the reigning champion of all-around live vocal mics.

I have used the Shure on many stages, but have never used a Blue. According to all the reviews I have read, listened to or watched online, the Blue e100 is comparable or better than the Shure in almost all respects--and it is currently $20 cheaper. The price is unlisted in shopping search results as per retailer terms of service with Blue Mics, but authorized dealers like zZounds and American Musical Supply will privately tell you via shopping cart or email that it costs $79 before shipping. The Shure mic is running at $99 these days.

The reviewer in the video below places the Blue e100 ahead of the SM58 in every category: durability, sensitivity, frequency response, feedback rejection, overall sound purity, even "sexiness."
The only category in which the SM58 dominated was in reducing noise caused by handling the mic while in use. Shure sure makes a solid microphone.

Note: The reviewer sells only Blue live vocal mics on his website--a conflict of interest as far as journalistic integrity goes, but trust me when I say this man echos everything else I have seen. He probably only sells Blue because it's the best for the money.

I'm excited to get mine.

Love in the 21st Century (A Photo Thing)

Earth Hour, or Twearth Hour If You Will

blackout 3
Originally uploaded by polkabike

This blog is about social media. Talk about a broad topic. Allows me to write about, oh, I don't know, how about Earth Hour. I found out about it through Twitter.


I joined Earth Hour fifteen minutes late tonight. At 9:15 p.m. I turned off all my lights, shut down my computer, turned off my music and just laid there in my bed with my shoes and clothes on.

I thought about tigers, as @cara19 has pointed out I am doing a lot of recently. Tigers are what some people are deep down. They struggle bravely to live peaceably as a human among humans. They sometimes lash out, but they are tigers. One does not begrudge a tiger its instincts. One does not try to reason with it, make it purr or snuggle with it. One stands at a safe distance and respects the magnificent beast.

I rested the mind.

I laughed. Yeah, I laughed. Why? Because tension was melting away. For once I was lying down not because I was exhausted but because I had some social reason to do so. To express solidarity with people who care more about things like Earth Hour than I do.

I am a cynic. I do not believe Earth Hour will save the world. I do believe it can heighten consciousness. It can provide a sense of community.

At 10:00 p.m. I turned on one light and for once it was enough. Glad to have my computer back. I love my toys.

On Twitter, I found others doing Earth Hour in a variety of ways.


Amazing what you can do in the dark, isn't it.

Two songs to capture the spirit of Earth Hour. The first is a dark and stormy hip hop song by underground lyricist Acey Alone called "Lights Out". Sayid and High Priest guest rap. I can't find an online version or sample for you to listen to but here is the song's Last.fm page.

The second is a rawk song by Bad Religion. The chorus goes:

I'm a 21st-century digital boy
I don't know how to live but I got a lotta toys
(Listen to the whole track on Blip.fm.)

Those lyrics state a problem worth considering, do they not? Did you do Earth Hour to any extent? Did you not? How was that for you? Do you care all that much?

It's okay, you can be honest. This is Man of Many Words.

Rizzn's Personal Blog: Barack Obama and His Blackberry [Legal Loopholes]

This might be my first re-blog ever. I promise not to make a habit of it. I just happen to dig what rizzn is saying here:

rizzn's personal blog: Barack Obama and his Blackberry [Legal Loopholes]

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Orange Commercial: "Blackout"

I was in this commercial as an extra. The set was gigantic. The scene depicted is the 2003 New York City blackout. The advertiser, Orange, which is a major communications company for England, actually paid to clear multiple city blocks in Manhattan to shoot the commercial. I am most definitely not visible, although I might theoretically be in the aerial shot of the huge crowd.

The commercial was made for movie theaters and apparently is played all the time. For you Joanna Newsom fans, she's the background singer. No idea who the narrator or protagonist are, although I had a scene with him that got cut. It's amazing how little footage made it into the final product. The shoot went on for days and days. Whatever. Enjoy: