Wednesday, October 27, 2010
US Voters: Check in on FourSquare for a special badge next Tuesday!
Will you be voting in the election on Tuesday? Check out the special badge and page Foursquare has put together to track voting trends and transparency. Right now, the page only shows a countdown timer to the opening of the polls on the East Coast and a link to Google's mini-app to find your polling place. When it goes live, it will contain more information on voting trends - not who is being voted for, but where the voting is happening.
(Heads up: Google's mini-app for finding your polling place may not work for all addresses. It couldn't find my polling place even though it is across the street from my apartment complex. It did give me a link to the state site to find the location.)
Amplify’d from elections.foursquare.com
I Voted
I VOTED Goes live November 2, 2010
About
The I Voted data visualization and badge have been designed with three purposes in mind: to encourage civic participation, increase transparency in the voting process and develop a replicatable system for the 2012 Presidential Election. Until we launch, make sure you have what you need to go vote on November 2nd!
Read more at elections.foursquare.com
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/e2vb
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Free Good Advice! What more could you want?
Join the Office MVPs and the Windows MVPs for a live chat tomorrow. Details below and in the linked post.
Amplify’d from vitaminch.com
Free Advice!
Have I got your attention? Good! Because this advice is simple, straightforward and easy to take:
Get your Windows 7 and Office 2010 questions answered!
Join the Microsoft MVPs as they answer your questions, Thursday, Oct 14th between 10:00 – 11:00 AM PDT (or 1-2pm EST). This is a public chat. The experts are real. The cost? FREE!
Check it out!
Details and registration on the Microsoft Communities site: http://www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx
Or on the Facebook Event page for the chat.
Read more at vitaminch.com
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/aFT1lf
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Our geeks are better than yours » Vitamin CH (Chocolate)
Are you coming to PodCampAZ? You should be, because (sing it with me):
Podcamp brings all the geeks to the yard,
And they're like
It's better than yours,
Damn right it's better than yours,
It can teach you,
But you need to go
We know you want it,
The thing that makes us,
What the geeks go crazy for.
They lose their minds,
The way it runs,
I think its time
Register now at http://j.mp/podreg
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/chfo
Amplifiers: I am still trying to find a place for us to meet at #blogworld. I thought I had a place at one of the pools, but they changed seasons. The pools are now only open 9am to 6pm. So, I need advice. Please vote in the attached poll before Thursday morning. http://bit.ly/9HH2Ye
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Facebook sharing phone numbers: Do you want your contact info shared as wide as they are?
My brother-in-law posted the following on his #Facebook wall this evening:
PHONE NUMBER IS NOW ON FACEBOOK!! NO JOKE... Go to the top right of your screen, click Account then Edit Friends. Go to the left side of your screen and click Phonebook. Everyone's phone numbers are now being published. ...
What does this mean? Any of your friends who have shared their phone numbers with Facebook are now sharing those numbers with you as well.And, depending on how your privacy settings are put together, you may have shared your number with your friends or with the world.
The first thing to do is to check that the contact information you are sharing with #Facebook is only getting share with whom you want. Log into #Facebook and go to "Account" (Upper right screen link). From the drop down, select "Edit Friends". In the left column, you will see "Phonebook". Click this and you will see whose phone numbers Facebook has shared with you.
What's the default?
The default sharing for contact information appears to be the same as for everything else: Friends of Friends
Want to stop the sharing?
Go back to the Account drop down. This time select "Privacy Settings". In the left column, select "Custom", then "Customize " at the bottom of the main area. This will bring you to the page where you define what you want to share of your information. Scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the "Contact information". Change the drop downs for each area to as restrictive of a list as you want.
Which all raises a question
Does it matter if your contact information is available on #Facebook? In today's world of transparency and openness, does it matter if your #Facebook friends have your phone number? For me, it doesn't really - My number and contact information is fairly easy to find on the web as it is. BUT if you aren't in the social media or consulting worlds, you probably don't want to share your life quite as much as I do.
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/9n8xfC
Monday, October 4, 2010
Microsoft MVPs share: Office 2010 and Win 7 chat! October 14
Stuck on how to do something in Office 2010 or Windows 7? Want a chance to pick the brains on some of the top experts in these areas? Check out the Microsoft MVP chat on October 14 - Your chance to ask questions of the recognized experts!
The participating experts will be available online for an hour. They are there to help you do what you do - only better, faster, and prettier. Not only that, but the #msmvps are here to help you for free!
(Full disclosure: I am a Microsoft MVP in OneNote. I know these peeps - they are great. Normally, I would be volunteering to be on the panel. But, as luck would have it, this one is scheduled to start just as I get off the plane in Vegas for #BWE10.)
Amplify’d from blogs.msdn.com
Special Live Chat: Learn More about Office 2010 and Windows 7 From the MVP Experts!
Would you like to learn more about the cool new features in Office 2010 and Windows 7 and what has changed since previous versions? Do you use Microsoft Office but would like to learn tips and tricks to be more productive at home, school or at work? Perhaps you are a new user who has questions on how to get started with Windows 7 or using the Office ribbon? Or would like to learn how to protect your computer from malware and viruses. Or perhaps you are just stuck and need answers.
The Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) are here to help! The MVPs are the same people you see in the technical community as authors, trainers, user groups leaders and answerers in the Microsoft forums. For the first time ever we have brought these experts together as a collective group to answer your questions live. MVPs will be on hand to take questions about Microsoft Office 2010 or Office 2007 products such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Project, OneNote and more. As well as the Windows 7 and earlier versions such as Windows Vista. In addition to Microsoft Office, the chat will cover Windows related topics such as upgrading, setup and installation, securing your PC, Internet Explorer, personalizing your computer desktop or having fun with Windows Live Essentials to share photos, make movies and more. All levels of experience are welcome from beginners and students to intermediate power users. Please join us for this informative Q&A style chat and bring on your basic and your tough questions!
When: Thursday, October 14, 2010 between 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM PDT! To learn more and add a reminder to your calendar please visit our Communities site or Microsoft TechNet
Read more at blogs.msdn.com
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/aERxQR
Friday, October 1, 2010
"Please stop... I'm bored" 2010 Ig Noble Prizess announced
Last night, the winners of the 2010 Ig Nobel Prizes were announced at Harvard's Sanders Theater.
The Ig Nobles are one of the funniest science award ceremonies you will ever hear of. Prize winners get .... well, they get a small useless prize. But, they also get the chance to makes us all "Laugh and then Think".
Science Friday usually broadcasts the award ceremony on the Friday after Thanksgiving. If you can't wait that long, keep an eye on the improbable site. They will upload the video from last night at some point.
(The headline? It comes from one of the ignitaries, Miss Sweetie Poo. She is responsible for keeping everyone within the time limits of the show. Check the video for samples of her talents: http://improbable.com/2010/07/26/improbable-research-collection-129-the-best-of-miss-sweetie-poo/.)
Amplify’d from improbable.com
The 2010 Ig Nobel Prize Winners
The
2010 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September
30, at the 20th
First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, at Harvard's Sanders Theatre.
ENGINEERING PRIZE: Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse and Agnes Rocha-Gosselin of the
Zoological Society of London, UK, and Diane Gendron of Instituto Politecnico
Nacional, Baja California Sur, Mexico, for perfecting a method to collect whale
snot, using a remote-control helicopter.
REFERENCE: "A Novel Non-Invasive Tool for Disease Surveillance of Free-Ranging
Whales and Its Relevance to Conservation Programs," Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse,
Agnes Rocha-Gosselin and Diane Gendron, Animal Conservation, vol. 13, no. 2,
April 2010, pp. 217-25.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse, Agnes Rocha-Gosselin,
Diane Gendron
MEDICINE PRIZE: Simon Rietveld of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
and Ilja van Beest of Tilburg University, The Netherlands, for discovering
that symptoms of asthma can be treated with a roller-coaster ride.
REFERENCE: "Rollercoaster Asthma: When Positive Emotional Stress Interferes
with Dyspnea Perception," Simon Rietveld and Ilja van Beest, Behaviour
Research and Therapy, vol. 45, 2006, pp. 977–87.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Simon Rietveld and Ilja van Beest
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PRIZE: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Atsushi Tero, Seiji Takagi,
Tetsu Saigusa, Kentaro Ito, Kenji Yumiki, Ryo Kobayashi of Japan, and Dan Bebber,
Mark Fricker of the UK, for using slime mold to determine the optimal routes
for railroad tracks.
REFERENCE: "Rules for Biologically Inspired Adaptive Network Design," Atsushi
Tero, Seiji Takagi, Tetsu Saigusa, Kentaro Ito, Dan P. Bebber, Mark D. Fricker,
Kenji Yumiki, Ryo Kobayashi, Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Science, Vol. 327. no. 5964,
January 22, 2010, pp. 439-42.
[NOTE: THE FOLLOWING ARE CO-WINNERS BOTH THIS YEAR AND IN 2008 when they were
awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for demonstrating that slime molds can solve puzzles:
Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Ryo Kobayashi, Atsushi Tero]
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Kentaro Ito, Atsushi
Tero, Mark Fricker, Dan Bebber
PHYSICS PRIZE: Lianne Parkin, Sheila Williams, and Patricia Priest of the
University of Otago, New Zealand, for demonstrating that, on icy footpaths
in wintertime, people slip and fall less often if they wear socks on the outside
of their shoes.
REFERENCE: "Preventing Winter Falls: A Randomised Controlled Trial of
a Novel Intervention," Lianne Parkin, Sheila Williams, and Patricia Priest,
New Zealand Medical Journal. vol. 122, no, 1298, July 3, 2009, pp. 31-8.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Lianne Parkin
PEACE PRIZE: Richard Stephens, John Atkins, and Andrew Kingston of Keele University,
UK, for confirming the widely held belief that swearing relieves pain.
REFERENCE: "Swearing as a Response to Pain," Richard Stephens, John
Atkins, and Andrew Kingston, Neuroreport, vol. 20 , no. 12, 2009, pp. 1056-60.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Richard Stephens
PUBLIC HEALTH PRIZE: Manuel Barbeito, Charles Mathews, and Larry Taylor of
the Industrial Health and Safety Office, Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA, for determining
by experiment that microbes cling to bearded scientists.
REFERENCE: "Microbiological Laboratory Hazard of Bearded Men," Manuel
S. Barbeito, Charles T. Mathews, and Larry A. Taylor, Applied Microbiology,
vol. 15, no. 4, July 1967, pp. 899–906. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC547091/?tool=pubmed>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Manuel S. Barbeito was unable to travel, due to
health reasons. A representative read his acceptance speech for him.
ECONOMICS PRIZE: The executives and directors of Goldman Sachs, AIG, Lehman
Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Magnetar for creating and promoting
new ways to invest money — ways that maximize financial gain and minimize
financial risk for the world economy, or for a portion thereof.
CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Eric Adams of MIT, Scott Socolofsky of Texas A&M University,
Stephen Masutani of the University of Hawaii, and BP [British Petroleum], for
disproving the old belief that oil and water don't mix.
REFERENCE: "Review of Deep Oil Spill Modeling Activity Supported by the
Deep Spill JIP and Offshore Operator’s Committee. Final Report," Eric
Adams and Scott Socolofsky, 2005.
<http://www.boemre.gov/tarprojects/377.htm>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Eric Adams, Scott Socolofsky, and Stephen Masutani
MANAGEMENT PRIZE: Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo
of the University of Catania, Italy, for demonstrating mathematically that
organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random.
REFERENCE: “The Peter Principle
Revisited: A Computational Study,” Alessandro
Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo, Physica A, vol. 389, no. 3,
February 2010, pp. 467-72.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare
Garofalo.
BIOLOGY PRIZE: Libiao Zhang, Min Tan, Guangjian Zhu, Jianping Ye, Tiyu Hong,
Read more at improbable.com
Shanyi Zhou, and Shuyi Zhang of China, and Gareth Jones of the University of
Bristol, UK, for scientifically documenting fellatio in fruit bats.
REFERENCE: "Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time," Min
Tan, Gareth Jones, Guangjian Zhu, Jianping Ye, Tiyu Hong, Shanyi Zhou, Shuyi
Zhang and Libiao Zhang, PLoS ONE, vol. 4, no. 10, e7595.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Gareth Jones
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/aLxcMs
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