I’m not a social media fan, but I thought to give twitter a try. I’m using it for a month now and I have a question for all the twitter users: How can you manage this enormous amount of information??
The first couple of days (when I was following about 80 users), I tried to read every single tweet while I was working on my computer. So, I scheduled the tweetdeck’s updates at a 5 minute interval. Big mistake! If I was lucky enough to read all the tweets before the next update, I had only 1-2 minutes to continue my work before the next one! Afterwards, I decided to read some tweets every couple of hours. It was ok, until I started to follow 250 users. There is no way to keep track of all those tweets! Of course, you need to follow to be followed, but I don’t think that anyone that follows 1000 users reads the tweets of even 100 of them (unless this is what he’s doing for a living). So, what’s the point?
There is very interesting information in there, but I have to spend at least 2-3 hours per day to read everything that interests me. In my twitter month, I stopped reading forums or exploring blogs that I like because I didn’t have the time anymore; twitter sucked it all!
My solution? I should either reduce the number of the users that I follow, or keep all of them (and even add more) creating a separate group of 30-50 users whose tweets I will actually read and interact with. But, isn’t it hypocritical?
I’d like to hear your thoughts on the subject!
5 comments | belongs to: urban legends | posted on September, 2009
Early in 2007, Mark Ontkush wrote on his blog that a Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year. Almost instantly, Blackle appeared among similar projects and soon became the most popular of them. Blackle’s creators are basing Ontkush’s theory on this research paper. Google on the other hand doesn’t seem to agree with the theory, based on this post on its official blog. Blackle and the whole theory have received (as expected) strong criticism. I hope they figure out soon which theory is correct, so i can change my background! 
In the mean time, take a look at some things you can do now to reduce the energy used by your computer as proposed by the Official Google Blog. It’s on the same article as before, so you don’t have to click again. 
- turn on the power management features. Virtually all computers today have the ability to switch into low-power modes automatically when they’re idle; very few computers have this capability enabled! Here’s how to do it on computers running Windows XP.
- turn off your monitor and computer when you’re not using them
- turn down the brightness on your monitor
- make sure your next computer meets the efficiency standards of Climate Savers Computing (an efficient computer uses up to 50% less energy than a conventional one)
- to find the most efficient PCs available today, look for the words “EnergyStar 4.0 compliant.”
1 comment | belongs to: urban legends | posted on March, 2009
Although i once did it for a living (after a short ..MSc break, i’m doing it again), i initially decided not to build a custom template for my blog, but to use a pre-made wordpress template. My choice for now is was the minimalistic Hemingway. But is this the ‘right’ thing to do? Let me rephrase that: is there a ‘right’ thing to do?
In my case, i just wanted to start writting without many concerns about the website’s look and so i did. Now it’s the right time to build my very own (without any rush though). Although i knew it from the beginning that someday i was going to build my own template, i placed myself into the position of someone who had to pay for one.
From the developer’s point of view, the only disadvantage is the personal effort he has to put in. On the other hand, the buyer’s only concern is the price. The three main advantages of the custom over the pre-made templates are:
- Customization. You can place whatever you what, wherever you want and alter things easily.
- Maintenance. You’ve made it (or the person you paid to make it and possibly maintain it too), so you know where everything is and what to change when needed.
- Uniqueness is the key-word that is associated with branding, being memorable etc. How can someone remember your website when it’s the same like someone else’s?
Honestly, i couldn’t find any advantage other than the price to the pre-made templates, but bear in mind that “the more you pay, the better you get” is not true every time.
So, i advice you to spend some time/money to build/buy your own website template. Here and here, you can read other people’s thoughts on the subject. I’d be pleased to read your thoughts (especially those who disagree with me).
no comments | belongs to: urban legends, web design | posted on February, 2009
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