Everything is vying for our attention. EVERYTHING.

And in time, maybe we’ll train ourselves to become better at managing the hierarchy of distractions (infographic shoutout!) but in today’s world, the expectations are increasingly becoming that we’ll repond to everything, from wherever we are and whatever we are doing.

We bring our smart phones to bed. People use them in the bathroom (ew, but true). We hate turning them off when the plane is about to take off, and rush to turn them back on when we’ve landed.

Often it’s “too much to ask” to have someone turn off their phone when you’re spending time with them. There’s always the e-mail from work you’re expecting, that text message from a friend you’re meeting up with later,  or an update email from a family member who’s going through a rough time. Now add in the mobile apps, status updates, comments, and checking in.

Bottom line: there’s a lot going on out there.

So when it comes down to giving a gift – there’s nothing more thoughtful or romantic than giving the gift of your full attention (that’s right- phone off).

Can you do it?

//Purchase The “Phonekerchief” via Uncommon Goods for $15

BONUS: how it works –

The Phonekerchief fabric is conductive (conducts electricity) because it is partially made up of silver fibers. When the fabric creates an unbroken enclosure (when it is wrapped tightly around a phone without any gaps), it creates a phenomenon that is known in science as a “Faraday Cage”. This means that any external static electrical field, such as a phone signal, will cause the electrical charges within the conducting fabric to redistribute themselves so as to cancel the field’s effects on what is inside. In order for the Phonekerchief to work effectively, the fabric must be wrapped tightly around the phone and create an unbroken enclosure.

Now You Can Buy that Bag... On the Go.

I grew up wearing a uniform.

So, as a girl, your only way to showcase your personality was through your purse and your shoes, and at my school, it was all about the bag.

Many went for the true americana styles of Coach or Dooney, and of course there was the occasional Euro entry (which were harder to find because they were not available at the local mall).

Thank God for the Internet.

Now, if you want to make a decision on which bag to buy to go with your uniform, or to buy for a holiday gift, you can shop online catalogs, ask for opinions on twitter, and use interactive gift finders from your favorite retailer/brand (like Coach’s cool Facebook app), and find out what people are saying on Facebook.

Or, you can even buy a bag on a mobile site, as Dooney launched their mobile site today. So, if you see “that girl” with the perfect bag, you can buy it on the spot. [I’m loving the canvas bags,  db sport duck print & leather bags).

Another way to kill time while waiting in line…

Two handycams do not equal one full camera.

I don’t know how I made it through the day before failblog, texts from last night, and fml.

But what’s more interesting is the effect these sites have had on my life. Not only do I blog about them, kick off meetings (long meetings with the right people) with a hilarious new video or photo, but now I’m starting to find them in real life (not just on the internetz).

Take for example a recent trip to San Antonio. While at a high school football game (I know) I turn around to see a double decker handycam camera operation.

Not one, but two. Two handycams do not equal one professional camera (sorry) but I did get a good laugh out of this operation.

While laughing (the non techies around me did not understand my fail reference and had not heard of fail blog!!!) a the situation, it made me realize a few things:

1) I need a new cell phone, ASAP so I can automatically send these sort of moments to the correct parties. Droid or iPhone? I may set up a poll on the blog and let you decide…

2) I really need to get out more, since so many of my jokes are based on youtube videos, failblog posts and stuff from my friends over at collegehumor.Not everyone spends as much time on their computer as I do, and I should really hide this information from strangers so I don’t get judged.

More fail to come. as soon as i sign offline…

Serena Rocks a Rose Pink Jawbone II: photo via GeekSugar/CW

If you are a reader of the Techyness, you’ve probably noticed from my numerous Gossip Girl references that I’m a fan.

It goes without saying that historically, popular television shows and their casts have made an impact on trends- mainly clothing, hair, jewelry, etc.

But today, with gadgets becoming an extension of our personalities (and the ability to customize the mass-market popular gadgets with personal uniqueness), shows like Gossip Girl are also impacting the perceptions of how sexy certain gadgets are – especially mobile technology.

Since the show’s premise is based on the fact that rumors and information (photos too) are distributed to Manhattan’s prep school population through the use of smart phones and blogs, the cast of Gossip Girl must have characters donning the newest and coolest mobile gadgets and tech to stay credible.

In doing so, those watching get an instant demo of how the characters on the show interact with their phones — as well as the mobile apps they are running.

Where are the iPhones? I’m also assuming a few netbooks and UMPCs will be emerging on the show next season – what about HP’s Vivienne Tam Edition Mini?

Think of it this way- tech is and can be fashionable and trendy- just like clothing – and since Gossip Girl already has the market on the clothing aspect, why is tech any different?

A few repeat offenders:

Laptops: Macbooks & MacBook Pro, MacBook Air & a Random Dell PC via Blair

Bluetooth: Serena rocks a Jawbone pink headset

Home Phone: Verizon Hub at Serena’s Home (next: MiFi?)

Cell Phones: Mainly of the LG and Blackberry Variety (Storm, Curve, Pearl)

Also… see GG’s own Leighton Meester in Cobra Starship’s new video, Good Girls Go Bad… (check out the Nokia N97 phone cameo available @ Dynamism .. love this phone + Leighton… of course!!!!)

**Geek Sugar usually runs quizzes after each show runs that has users guess which cell phone/laptop/gadget each character is featured with on the show.

I’ve heard a lot of complaining lately about twitter and status updates, but, one thing to think about (and I’ve mentioned this before) is the power of the aggregate data.

What if… you could track disease trends via twitter? Look no further. Sick City has arrived.

A project launched by way of DIYCity, SickCity pulls your updates from Twitter (and soon Facebook) for any mentions of disease in a city and then compiles the information into their web interface.

It then ranks the top “sickest” cities (1. NYC, 2. London, 3. San Francisc) and alllows you additional visibility into the data if you are looking for it (# mentions, usernames, etc.)

NYC wins the “sickest city” top spot – and you can track the number of people who twittered different sicknesses on a given day or time period (like how 8 people mentioned food poisoning on April 13th compared to 6 on April 10th). For more details, you can even click on the user name to see the context of the post-

Look forward to the next update, where updated will be mapped on a Google Map- so you can really see where the outbreaks are. Also, the site mentions that “we have also been contacted by a public health group who wants to correlate our findings with public records on diseases in cities.” [Via DIY City].

Remove 10 Friends and Get a Whopper?

There’s tons of content out there- we’re hit up in every direction with status updates via Facebook, what people are doing via Twitter, where people are from britekite, what people are thinking about from their blogs.

A new trend is “de-friending” (removing people from your facebook friends list) and “un-following” (removing ‘friends’ from twitter.

It’s a way to filter out the noise, a way to get back to reading what you really want to- but, of course, people defriend for different reasons – maybe you’re trying to get over a breakup and would prefer not to see what your ex did over the weekend, or maybe you forgot who that person is that friended you, anyway.

Regardless of the reason, it’s becoming a trend- especially as people who were originally skeptical of social networking sites are starting to join.

The New York Times describes a Burger King promotion, “Whopper Sacrifice,” that gave a free Whopper to those who defriended 10 people- AND BK send each of these people an email (normally you don’t get an email when someone defriends you) as it was a side app you had to “install” on your account. It’s one of the most creative (and what a buzz it created!) marketing promotions I’ve seen in a long time.

Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell (great book), wrote earlier this year that ’09 would be

“Defriending becomes the hot new trend, driven by overwhelming rivers of newsfeeds. The movement is rooted in a desire to have quality, not quantity, as people cocoon in the face of the economic crisis. Facebook apps will emulate Twitter Grader, allowing you to prioritize your friends based on their overall social ranking — and prune safely to ensure the highest quality friends.”

Although you feel a little guilty about it sometimes, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being picky on who you “listen” to.

While browsing new posts from my favorite preppy fashionista, I realized that it’s about time to tackle the “Web 2.0 chain letter” that seems to be invading collaborative outlets everywhere.

Chain letters have evolved over time… first with cheesy letters, then emails, and now in social media, where one can attach multimedia to answer questions or provide additional information.

Sure, it started with the Facebook – 25 random things about me, that we were all tagged in, and I’ve come across another one- “Show Your Heart.”

The directions state to show your heart…

Show your heart in one picture:

There's just something about these two trees that gets to me.

...one item of clothing:

Anything Jackie O had in her closet(s)

...one Disney Princess

Sleeping Beauty. No contest here. Maybe I'm just waiting to wake up too? (corny, had to say it, c'mon).

...one place (it’s a tie for me)

#1. Villa San Michele, Fiesole, Florence, Tuscany.

#2. Belhurst Castle, Geneva, NY (this one is more feasible)

...one poem:

for the sake of irony, my poem is about poems…

As a tool of cognition, poetry beats any existing form of analysis (a) because it pares down our reality to its linguistic essentials, whose interplay, be it clash or fusion, yields epiphany or revelation, and (b) because it exploits the rhythmic and euphonic properties of the language that in themselves are revelatory.  — Joseph Brodsky

…one quote:

Voici mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. -Le Petit Prince (Antoine de Saint Exupéry)

And I can’t forget the final piece… to tag a few bloggers to follow up… so I know George will take this one on…

Notice the sharp increase in page views on 2/14. FML.

The Internet builds communities and allows for knowledge sharing on anything from your LAN gaming addiction to ice chewing (i’m not kidding). But there’s a new kid in town… FML, or F*** my life.com.

The site first launched in French as “Vie de Merde,” which translates to “shitty life.”

According to the site’s blog, the English site was originally to be called “Today Shit Happens,” but then the founders realized that FML is a little bit more catchy.

The beauty is in the simplicity. Users go online and submit their own horror stories to the site, which are then moderated and voted on, so the good ones appear on the main landing page. Every post must start with “Today” and end with FML (a catchy abbrev). Similarly, the french version begins with Aujourd’hui and ends with VDM.

My roommate told me about it the other day while I was complaining about something (sorry rooms!) and for some reason, I waited until Valentine’s day to check it out.

Immediately, I felt better. Mainly after reading the top posts that include horrors like:

Today, my boyfriend gave me a card for my birthday and told me to open it 10 minutes after he leaves. I waited 5, in the card it said “it’s not working out, but here’s 20$”. FML

Today, I called the campus police to give me a ride to the cafeteria since I am on crutches from knee surgery. I was only halfway into the car when the man started driving and ran over my foot. Now neither my right knee or my left foot work. FML

Today, my boyfriend’s sister called me to wish me congratulations and ask me when I was due. I said I wasn’t prenant to which she replied “Yes you are, my brother just told us the good news”. Long pause. “Oh wait is this Mary or Morgan?” I’m Morgan. Who’s Mary? FML

Today, the girl I love and I went to visit my parents out of state for the first time. My father grinned and acknowledged that she was a “keeper”, at which she laughed and said we were “just friends”. I was going to propose to her next week. FML.

Let’s just say I agree with Josh, who said “Factual or not, this site is remarkably therapeutic — which is rather timely, given the current recession.  FMyLife.com. It will make any day seem infinitely better by comparison.”

I've graduated from 2 years of blogging!

Last week, I gave a presentation on “Managing Gen Y” to a group of CIOs, and while talking about social media and collaborative technologies, the Techyness came up in conversation.

And then I realized something… I’ve been blogging for over two years. 2 years!

Here is a throwback to the first post on the Techyness, with backward compatibility as the subject matter. And, If I remember correctly, I referenced Time’s Person of the Year 2006 shortly afterwards.

So, why blog?

Just a simple google search on the phrase leads me to this result from the New York Times about how the blogger who started Stuff White People Like landed a book deal… because of his blog (the full list is actually pretty funny).

Sure, I haven’t won a Weblog award, like this list of winners for 2008… but

The Techyness has also allowed me to coach other people in their blogging endeavors, and I love the whole “blogging mentor” thing.

So, what’s in scope for the future of Techyness? I think it will grow with me. As I learn (graphic design, code, life, etc), these skills will have a direct effect on the blog.