Pseudo Tech Girl

A Silicon Valley Girl Navigating Through the Tech World

Archive for August, 2009

Managing Your “Social” Life After Taking A Break

Aug 27

Posted by schlegelsteph in Technology, Tips, Web2.0 | No Comments

My post from bub.blicio.us

Turning on the computer to find 100’s of emails in various email accounts, 1000+ new posts in Google Reader and countless missed Tweets is not a great way to start a Monday morning after a week long vacation. Add to that the sluggish feeling after skipping the gym and eating vacation food (think rich and fatty) and its time for a mini-digital intervention.

Here are a few tools that can help prevent some of the digital pain and get your digital world back on track following a period of being disconnected.

Aggregate Information

Streamy: This is a great tool for aggregating the many social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) as well as IM and blogs. Rather than logging into each individual site, you can check your Streamy site. The only thing I would improve is having the option to update multiple statuses at once rather than click between the different streams. This type of site allows you to use your limited internet time more efficiently.

Food

Lose It!: A great tool for getting your eating back on track. Even if there is no weight loss goal associated with tracking food, it’s a convenient way to know what you’re eating and get your diet back on track. It’s simple, just enter what you eat each day into the application and you’ll get a calorie count as well as a snapshot of your food intake. It’s easy to set weight loss goal and keep track of your progress. The biggest challenge is being honest with the tool.

Fun/Fitness

Wii Active: Unlike the Lose It! Application, there is no way to lie to the Wii. If you aren’t doing the lunges properly or following along with the movements, the system knows and calls you out on it. This “game” really makes you sweat and gets your heart rate up. If you need to increase your activity level but prefer the comfort of your own home, this is a great place to start.

Email

This is where I need your help. I couldn’t find any useful social media solutions for managing email. Do you know of any? If so, leave a comment or send me a quick note.

Photobucket

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Viva la Viral Video (Forever!)

Aug 4

Posted by schlegelsteph in Technology, Web2.0 | 1 Comment

Like over 11 Million other people, I found myself entranced by the recent viral video hit, JK Wedding Video. The video features the wedding march of a couple in Minnesota and their wedding party but this is no traditional wedding entrance. Instead of the traditional Wager piece “Here Comes the Bride”, attendees are greeted by Chris Brown’s “Forever”.

Without spending too much time on the controversy surrounding Chris Brown, the song choice was surprising considering the current taste Chris Brown has left in music lovers’ mouths. As viewership started to climb, so did the song on iTunes top singles list. Currently sitting at number 15, the song peaked as high as 6. Does this signal some kind of rebound for the troubles singer or is this just the temporary side effect of a successful viral video? It’s too early to tell in this case but let’s take a look at a few successful viral videos that had an impact outside of the video.

  • Numa Numa: This video took the viral world by storm in late 2006 with a total of over 30 million views in the past two years. The Moldovan Techno tune “Dragostea din tei” was recently sampled in the hit song “Live Your Life” by T.I. featuring Rihanna in 2008, keeping the original tune alive well beyond the success of the original viral video.
  • “Leave Britney Alone”: The original video has been watched over 26 million times and provided the creator, Chris Crocker, with his 15 minutes of fame. They did not leave Britney alone but it seems that she is back on the right track.
  • Susan Boyle: The original post has attracted nearly 73 million views so far, no including re-posts, creating a good amount of hoopla around the singer. Although she did not win Britain’s Got Talent, she is expected to do well in coming months with an album release. We’ll see how it plays out considering she has already spent time in the hospital following a breakdown after all the Paparazzi started to follow her every move.

In each of these cases, the videos were followed by success for the star and/or creator of the video (let’s consider Britney the star of “Leave Britney Along”). It’s too early to tell what the long term impact of this video will be on Chris Brown’s career but my guess is that it will take much more than a lucky wedding song choice to get him back on track.

And then of course, there are the spin off videos: