the pursuit of techyness » The Pursuit of Techyness.

Evolution of Geek (Or Lack Thereof)

ame — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:09:47 +0000

See any changes?

We all have a signature style in some way or another.

Maybe you’re like Steve Jobs and the only thing that really varies is the amount of hair you have. Or maybe you have your own signature geek style.

If not, here are a few ideas/inspiration to capture your own geek style:

1) Laptop/Gadget Etching: Let your artsy and geeky side emerge with custom etching on your isomething. My laptop has angel wings, but if you want your own, check out Make Mag.

2) Custom Laptop Sleeve or Phone Case from Etsy: Submit a design summary with photos of what you’re looking for and watch the ideas (and estimates) flow in. Or buy a cool pre-made option from one of the crafty sellers

3) A Cool USB Drive: When it comes to sharing files, where you choose to store your files speaks volumes about you and your geek style. A friend of mine even has a pair of CK sunglasses with a usb drive ($180)

// image via Geek Hideout

Top 3 Reasons My Mom Sent Me an iRomance Comic

ame — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:53:32 +0000

Thoughts, etiquette and even parodies of how technology fits into romance is found everywhere.

So when MY MOM (yes my mom) sent me a newspaper clipping of this comic, I knew that:

1. My family thinks I’m addicted to technology (they’re probably right)

2. I’m not alone because I know a lot of other people are just as bad as I am

3. It’s about time I write a post on this.

When Mashable posted their top 10 geekiest marriage proposals, reported on a custom made usb wedding ring, taught us how to deal with a real life breakup online, and now even CNN has a netiquette column.

When this topic usually comes up, it’s blamed as a “millennial” thing, that other generations are shocked by (and if you don’t know what I mean, just watch the 60 Minutes Video). But, overall I think that there’s a difference between updating your facebook status in a church (as a joke) or actually doing it seriously.

And the only way it’s OK is if both parties are on board. Take for example the comic– both the bride and the groom (and the priest, humm) are into it, so why not?

Mental Note: Maybe it’s okay to put “iPhones allowed” on the bottom of an invitation if your wedding is going to be tech friendly? I know that I plan to have a mini charger station available for guests when I get married.

//image via nonsequitur

Posted via email from lifestream de techyness

How Do You Use Your Cognitive Surplus?

ame — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:31:32 +0000

What do you do with your free time?

Do you spend it creating, or do you spend it passively consuming?

Typically, we all do a mixture of both (we are human, afterall), but in this TED video from Clay Shirky, he explains how the 1 Trillion hours of free time can impact our society in the most positive way.

One point that struck me is how new media is giving us a chance to *create* instead of just watching tv (he seems to point at TV as the root of all evil, haha), especially when he points out that Wikipedia was built out of roughly 1 percent of the man-hours that Americans spend watching TV every year.

Shirky gives two examples of how cognitive surplus has been used to “create” something of value – first off, LOLCats. Second – Ushahidi.com, which has allowed Kenyans to sidestep government censorship and report on acts of violence in real time and has since been deployed worldwide in a variety of useful ways (after becoming open source).

In his book Cognitive Surplus, Shirky forecasts the thrilling changes we will all enjoy as new digital technology puts our untapped resources of talent and goodwill to use at last.

So readers of the Techyness, how do you use your cognitive surplus?

Social Recruiting at It’s Finest: Cisco

ame — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:31:24 +0000

Lyrics:

Cisco Systems intern, California resident,

I just staffed a pretty cool event with the President

Of RUSSIA…day 8 on the job and I just saw the President

Of RUSSIA…maaaan I bet you never ever ever got a chance to see the President of RUSSIA!

Okay, here we go:

I’m courteous and affable, my name badge is retractable (note: I love this part)

You other interns laughable, your thermos must be half as full.

I’m 6’7” staffable, you can’t find giraffes this tall,

I’m known to play some basketball, or finish office tasks on call.

When I rap I have to win, I’m in the break room back again with

Notebooks, stacks of pens, soundin’ off these acronyms:

CDO, EBC, GBO, and CBT,

VPN, CEO, I’m soundin’ like C-3PO.

2 things that you need to know: I’m always clean and never late,

I’m known to rock a cubicle and show my face on clever tapes

I’m workin on my ThinkPad, sendin’ mail every day,

It’s natural to think that I’m talented in every way.

A blog post, a Twitter tweet, I’m never where the quitters be,

It’s social network wizardry – I’m all about the synergy. (AMAZING)

The vuvuzela interests me, and I’ve got the best hair,

3 words that I’ll leave you with: ergonomic desk chair.

(Lyrics: Cisco’s World Most Interesting Intern: Greg Justice)

(Music: JurahzTRUTH)

FOllow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/@flexitarian23

Nom Nom, Sad Trombone and All Those Noise Words

ame — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:00:50 +0000

You’ve heard them. I’ve heard them. Now get the videos, sound clips, and info directly from the source.

Sad Trombone

Origin: Follows an ironic or tragicomic observation. Equivalent to the vocalized “sad trombone sound” in spoken conversation.

Use: For really, really sad happenings.

Nom-Nom

Origin: An onomatopoeical adjective based on the sound emitted when something is “oh so tasty” (either through hunger or flavorological value)

Use: When you’re really, really hungry. And something looks really, really good.

HOW TO: Embed Tweets using Blackbird Pie (Really)

ame — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:00:56 +0000

We all remember the big buzz on embedding tweets into web pages about a month ago, but to be honest I kindof forgot about it after that… mainly because I half expected information on how to embed the tweets to come up somewhere on the twitter homepage, but it didn’t.

What I realized after doing some additional research on Twitter Media is that this isn’t an official Twitter feature (yet) afterall. As it turns out, the Twitter embed function, deemed Blackbird Pie, is mainly the result of @robinsloan brainpower. [via Twitter Media].

Here’s an example (me trying to be funny…)

Omg #quoteoftheday "social media is not as scary as bears." What kind of bear? #sucharretteApril 18, 2010 9:48 pm via Seesmicamedmunds
alana marie

How to actually do this.

If you’re a WordPress user, download the plugin and use the following shorthand html code: ” ”

If you’re everyone else, use the official Twitter Media BlackBird Pie code generator here. Simply copy and paste your status update URL into the box, press the button. and VOILA, you have some code.

It’s Official: ereader is “e-reader” and smartphone is “smart phone”

ame — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:00:02 +0000

How do I spell it? How is e-reader correctly punctuated? Is there a space in between these words?

These are questions that have plagued the social media/digital geek community ever since these technologies became an extension of ourselves.

But who has it worse is the journalist population… and I know this for two reasons – my sister lives and breathes the AP stylebook, and I went to Syracuse (S.I. Newhouse, ahem ahem). Yes, they sleep with the book.

So, it is for all of you that I would like to share this fun document on how to correctly spell, punctuate and hypenate all those words that you couldn’t find in your book.

apstylebook –

Puppies Make Paper Better

ame — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:24:00 +0000

//via a letter from mom. Possibly the best stamp ever?

Posted via email from lifestream de techyness

How Green is Your Font?

ame — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:32:21 +0000

In an effort of true green font proportions, font fans Matt Robinson and Tom Wriggelsworth decided to draw out large scale type of popular fonts to measure the total ink usage.

As a measurement/six sigma dork, I am loving the data visualization piece of their effort… they used the remaining ink in the ballpoint pens as their means to measure to the total amount of ink used in the experiment.

As you could probably guess, IMPACT scored low “green” marks while the comparatively lean Garamond and Courier were at the top of the class.

And for the retro-type lovers, check out this article on the last generation of typewriters via wired.

[bloggers note: this would have only been more awesome if they used Lorem Ipsum insted...]

//via Matt Robinson

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from lifestream de techyness

What Happens When You Can’t Afford Photoshop

ame — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:00:07 +0000

Just when you thought your normal coreloaded applications were worthless.

WARNING: These videos will make you feel like a pretty bad artist.

How to Draw in Excel:

Drawing in Microsoft Paint