Ignoring Rationality, I Subscribed to Sirius Radio Yesterday

Last week, I told you that the new iPhone application from Sirius Radio solved a problem I didn't have, namely gaining access to good music - which I can get from numerous sources, including my bulging iTunes library, Last.fm, Pandora, or even streaming radio sources built into iTunes itself, like those from Digitally Imported. But despite my protests, I gave in yesterday and paid up, making Sirius' foray into iPhone applications already responsible for at least one net new customer.

As I mentioned last week, I always had hoped to have streaming high quality satellite radio in my next car, but missed the boat when I bought a used 2006 model and didn't get the chance to configure it myself.

After initial struggles getting the app to work in the car, the application has worked beautifully for the remainder of the seven day free trial that came alongside the iPhone app. I have made turning on Sirius Radio (and primarily the station Area) part of the process of my turning the car on. And if you're a diehard electronic music and techno fan, I can tell you there is just no substitute for Sirius' set of stations on any network I have ever tried.


The Sirius Lineup on Pulsar
But if I were only using Sirius in the car, I still would have passed. Instead, I have also been playing my Sirius stations on my laptop, using an application called Pulsar, from Rogue Amoeba, that makes getting the music on my desktop very easy indeed. Now, I can listen to Area, and get shows from Robbie Rivera, Bennie Benasi, Paul Van Dyk, John Digweed, Carl Cox and Paul Oakenfold any time I am near the computer or the iPhone (which as you can assume is darn near all the time).


My Favorite Sirius Stations on Pulsar
And it's not just the unmatched content on the channel that had me convert. It's also the complete lack of commercials on Sirius, and of course, elimination of static. Pure satellite sound pumping through my BMW speakers on 280 is just amazing, as you can probably imagine.

Last week, when I was first talking about possibly buying Sirius Radio, Thomas Hawk repeatedly said "music wants to be free". But I will always pay for quality - and Sirius Radio has it. I cannot wait until the next long trip when I can charge up the iPhone, hook up to the dash and hit the gas, with perfect music flowing alongside. So don't tell me it was an irrational move, one that was a waste of money, or that I had better alternatives elsewhere. Music, like art, is emotional, and I have no qualms about reversing my position.

Matthew and Sarah Turn One Year Old! (12 Months of Photos)

One of the Earliest Pictures from Stanford Hospital A Year Ago

Exactly one year ago at this moment, my wife and I were at the Stanford University hospital in Palo Alto. She was in labor, and the two of us were eagerly awaiting the arrival of our twin boy and girl. We didn't know what they looked like. We didn't even know what we were to name them, and we didn't really know how much our lives would change. We didn't have a crystal ball into their budding personalities, and we never imagined how much fun we would have once they joined our family.

On June 20th of 2008, Matthew David Gray and Sarah Elizabeth Gray joined our family. We share with you some of the highlights in pictures. Even for those of you who follow us closely on other networks, some of these photos are new - having never been posted to the Web. Scroll down just to watch the kids grow before your eyes. You can catch more on Matthew and Sarah by following our Smugmug account or The Gray Effect.

Thank you for being part of our extended family and community.

June 2008

My Tweet that night, alerting the world we were on our way.
(Discussed on Friendfeed)


Matthew and Sarah debuted on June 20th, but were quite small. Sarah stayed at the hospital another week, as she worked hard to grow.



July 2008

Once we got the twins home, it was remarkable how small they were.



August 2008

By August, they grew used to being part of our family.

September 2008

In September, many evenings were spent with me, as my wife attended her masters' program.

October 2008


By October, though still small, the kids' facial expressions became very clear.

November 2008



By November, the two were playing along with our Schwag Magnets routine, sporting Web 2.0 logos which previously couldn't fit at all.

December 2008




December saw Matthew and Sarah grow more curious about the world around them.

January 2009


The two spend practically every waking (and sleeping) moment together.


February 2009


As the twins grow, they present quite an armful.

March 2009



One thing we never expected was how happy and upbeat Matthew and Sarah both are. The times they cry or get frustrated are far outweighed by their smiles and shouts of glee.

April 2009

The two tag along with my wife to CostCo.

Sarah exults at a friend's party. (Photo by Rachel Fox)


May 2009

Matching clothes are too tempting for the boy/girl twin set.


June 2009

As the twins grow, they get more inventive about boundaries.


The pair relax together on Robert Scoble's recliner.

Yesterday

Flying down to San Diego for a cousin's wedding, the two prepare in the airport.
Anybody who has ever been a parent knows the perfect bond that can exist with children. That we were so blessed to get two amazing children at once is something that is indescribable. We are ecstatic every day, even during tough times. But there aren't that many, and we are looking forward to year number two!

Podcast: Incidental Interview on #BlameDrewsCancer, More

Sheryl Breuker, who we recently featured in the 10 FriendFeeders to follow for May post, spoke with me yesterday for her Incidental Interviews series, and unlike many other podcasts I've done, she started off not by talking about every service we use, or about the latest tech gadgets.

Instead, she wanted to find out about some of our recent updates that have impacted us personally, and then we dived into geekery.

In the podcast, which I have embedded below, we discuss:

• Drew Olanoff and the #BlameDrewsCancer phenomenon
• My obtaining Robert Scoble's car
• How we use FriendFeed
• The Extended LouisGray.com team of writers
• How we find new tools as an early adopter
• Social media in business
• Conflicts of interest between work and blog?
• And more...

You can find Sheryl's site here: Stardust Global Ventures

Download the Recording Now or Subscribe in iTunes

The Rumors Are True - I Bought Robert Scoble's BMW

What Was Once Scoble's... Is Now Mine
I don't consider myself a car person - and on both occasions where I have had to replace my car, it has been only after a mechanical problem's repair costs look to far outstrip the true value of the vehicle. That was true in 1999 when I returned my used 1991 Ford Escort GT, picking up a used 1998 Mercury Tracer, and true again this week, as I leave the Tracer behind, trading up to a used 2006 BMW 325i. The Tracer, with more than 140,000 miles on it, has served me well for a decade, but with its transmission toast, it was time to let go.

But, as with most things we've discussed on the blog over the last couple years, we turned to the Web to solve our issue, when it presented itself, starting back on March 28th.

Upon hearing I needed to pay upwards of $4,000 to fix my broken Tracer, my tendency would be to walk down the street to the nearest dealer and find something, anything to replace it. But instead, this time, I posted a note to FriendFeed, explaining the situation, and asking the vibrant community for feedback. In the discussion, seeing more than 80 comments, I explained I wanted to be more like my peers in Silicon Valley, but honestly didn't want to go in debt for the privilege.

In the middle of our back and forth, Robert Scoble swooped in with an offer I had to pay attention to. He posted, "Louis: we are selling our 2006 BMW 325i with 56,000 miles. Make me an offer. Well maintained and fun to drive."


The "New to Me" BMW Safely In Our Parking Lot
56,000 miles sounded a bit high, but considering Robert's visibility, it'd be bad for him to pass along a lemon. I was definitely interested. In April, I saw the car at an tech meet-up in Mountain View, and was even more convinced it was the right way to go, even after independently looking at alternatives throughout the Bay Area, to see if I could get a newer, better, car for the price Robert was offering.

In the meantime, Robert and I said we would target the end of May for a purchase. He was awaiting the delivery of a new Toyota Prius, and on Monday, it arrived. This put everything in motion, so on Tuesday night, we packed up the twins, headed to Half Moon Bay, and made the deal. Now, the car that was once Robert's is now mine (assuming my check clears the bank, and I have no concerns).

By Friday, a charity will come pick up my Tracer, and give me a tax deduction of a mere $500.


The Obama/Biden Sticker is From Robert. Should I Ditch It?
That I bought my BMW from Robert instead of a random car salesman or third party advertiser on Craigslist, eBay or the San Jose Mercury News speaks volumes in terms of how we can leverage our connections forged online. Though I've grown to know Robert well over the last few years, I learned of him through blogging, and he found out of my situation using FriendFeed. Much of our discussion about the transaction has been public, in fact, leading from the first offer, to his later posting, on April 15 that he was still planning to sell it to me.

Robert is happy that he has his new Prius, and no doubt happy he was able to pass along his car that he enjoyed to a good friend. Our family is happy because we managed to find a respectable, nice car without having to sell one of our kids or mortgage their future. And both of us are no doubt happy that we used the social networks we both have been promoting for years. Unfortunately for me, the BMW doesn't have any aftermarket enhancements that tap into the real-time Web. I was hoping Robert would have made the car one of a kind. But it's still a great deal and I'm glad I could leverage the Social part of the Social Web to get it done.

I #BlameDrewsCancer For Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

Last year, when ReadBurner was saved from an early demise, I gained more than the return of a site I enjoyed and found useful. I also gained a good peer and friend, in Drew Olanoff, who along with Adam Ostrow and a small team of developers, have been working on expanding ReadBurner, and extending its product line, including BurnURL, which we have discussed before. For whatever reason, Drew almost immediately transformed from a virtual world acquaintance who I knew through podcasts and trading e-mails, to a real-world friend, someone who I know I can call practically any time, any day.

Drew is energetic. Drew is geeky and loves it. Drew is really funny and always has me laughing. Drew is sharp and has a great eye for what works and what doesn't. Drew has a sense of personal style that you can see in everything he touches, from his own blog, to his work at ReadBurner, and previously at Strands, or his new job at GOGII.

And Drew is selfless. He famously got a woman's Twitter account ID tattooed on his arm for charity. And he was the first to ever dare and babysit my twins when they were very small.

But in May, my conversations with Drew changed tone. Drew had found a lump in his neck and throat area, and smartly thought to go to see a doctor. His symptoms pointed to his possibly having Hodgkins Lymphoma, a form of cancer. As his tests were being reviewed, I spoke to my dad, also an MD, and asked what he thought. In his matter of fact way, he ageed, saying, "Yup. Sounds like lymphoma."

Drew got the news not too long ago, that yes, he had been diagnosed with cancer. The big C... and would have to undergo chemotherapy. In fact, his first chemotherapy session was this last Monday. We've talked in the last few weeks on the phone about how he feels, what he expects, and how this will change him. But even as the disease tries to sap his physical strength, Drew's spirit is not being dampened. He is taking on this challenge like any other, and is looking to heighten awareness and deliver change.


You Can See What People Blame On Drew's Cancer Here
Today, in a heartfelt post, he revealed his battle with cancer, and started a new movement, to "Blame Drew's Cancer" for anything you want. Simply post a note to Twitter with the hashtag #blamedrewscancer and a dedicated site at http://www.blamedrewscancer.com will show whether you blame his cancer for your losing your keys to the downfall of your favorite sports team, or the economy at large. And with time, Drew will likely announce corporate partners who are going to work with him to kick cancer in a place that hurts.

I blame Drew's cancer for going after a guy who has been nothing but good news ever since he entered our family's life. Our kids love him and so do my wife and I. That's why we're asking you to also Blame Drew's Cancer... and show the big C who is boss.

How A Lone Nickel Almost Cost Me The Price of A New Mac

My MacBook Pro has been extremely reliable and loyal over the last two years, even after I foolishly chose to crush its monitor in a rented convertible at Spring Training in early 2008, forcing significant repair. But in April of 2009, I was sure I was going to have to take the laptop into the Apple Store, ostensibly to repair it at a steep cost of hundreds of dollars, or even be forced to upgrade, costing me a couple thousand dollars.

In addition to the occasional slowness one always perceives even with the fastest of last-generation computers, my laptop seemed to have loose parts in its housing. I was sure the CD-ROM mechanics were broken, as I couldn't insert discs and the machine would rattle when I picked it up to place in my computer bag, or moved from room to room. One knows it's never good to hear a rattling when they move their laptop around, and I was sure that the next time would be the last time I would start it up and it wouldn't crash for good. I even thought just maybe one of my memory sticks had broken away - which would be a perfect excuse for the perceived slowness.

Though I don't use CD-ROMs often, it became embarrassing to hand a CD to a friend (using Windows of course) at the office and ask them to put the disc's contents on the network for me to see it. What was wrong with my laptop, they asked... and I had no idea. But it was broken for sure.

I talked with my younger sister, who works in Apple Retail, what she thought I should do. She said to take it to a Mac genius. I would probably lose access to the computer for a few days, and the hardware repair would be in the high hundreds, assuming I wasn't covered by AppleCare. (Which I most likely am not.)

But on the night of April 24th, I looked down at my laptop to see the curve of a coin peeking from the CD-ROM drive. I deftly removed it, and it was a boring old nickel. (See my annoyance) Hopefully, I tilted the computer back and forth, and heard no rattling. It was a stupid nickel the whole time. And, as my twins are too young still to be up to such shenanigans, I knew the responsible party had to have been me. Somehow, I had a nickel loose in the laptop bag, and somehow, that nickel just so happened to get into the CD-ROM drive (as Apple doesn't have CD-ROM drive bay covers).

In the last month - no issues. CDs go in the drive just fine. The machine doesn't rattle. And I saved myself a good deal of potential embarrassment from having to go to the Apple Store and have them find out... it was a nickel.

So - am I the only one stupid enough to go through these things on a regular basis? I doubt it. Let me know if you've ever crossed the line from geek respectability to tech flunkie.

Would You Night Owls Pay a Premium for 24-Hour Commerce?

If you have a 9-5 job, and any responsibilities at home, be they family, digital, or anything else, you might find the world closed down around you by the time you're ready to go out. In most cities, practically the only things open past 9 or 10 are gas stations, 7-Eleven and possibly a grocery store. Want to pick up something from the electronics store, some new power tools, or even a new pair of slacks? You'll have to wait until tomorrow, but yes, the same hours apply, which means you're pretty much screwed until the weekend, unless you can sneak out on your lunch hour or roll into work late.

I've been a night owl since high school, at least - including a 1:30 to 9:30 a.m. graveyard shift during the summers, and working on the school paper in college starting at midnight. Even now, after putting the twins to bed after a full day, and catching up on all online activity, it's a rare night that we shut down before one - hours after the surrounding city has called it quits.

While I have moved as much of my commerce online as possible, there always remains the elusive item that would be much easier to get in the real world. What would be great is if there were something open for those of us who actually function very well between ten at night and eight the following morning. Whether there is one mega-complex open overnight that hits all the basics - from clothes to food to electronics and house supplies, or a mall in each metro area that does the same, I believe there would be a subset of the population that would flock to it - one that wouldn't mind paying a little bit more for the convenience.

I wouldn't even mind if the store charged one price at 7 p.m. and 20 percent more at 11, so long as they were open when I went. But I hate feeling like a prisoner to somebody else's schedule.

Meta: LouisGray.com Passes 2,000 Post Mark

As I stopped providing monthly updates early last year into traffic activities and other statistics on the blog, I have not been paying as much close attention to achieving what some would call milestones. But on Saturday, with the blog post Good People, Bad Companies: The Intersection of Skill and Luck, I hit the mark of 2,000 posts on louisgray.com, since early 2006, covering a period of 3 1/3 years, essentially. Since then, we've posted 8 more times (including this one), so I am a tad tardy in marking the achievement.

Back when I did watch these things more closely, on October 11, 2007, I marked hitting the 1,000 post number, and at the time highlighted what were then my top ten things I blogged about, including: 1) Apple, iPod and iTunes, 2) Blogs, Links and RSS, 3) Google, 4) TiVo and TV, 5) The Oakland A's, 6) The Cal Bears, 7) The Sacramento Kings, 8) Nintendo Wii and Games, 9) Statistics and 10) Technology Innovators and Startups.

Amazing to think of how much things have changed (in my opinion) in just 18 months, over which I, with the help of some strong guest authors, knocked out the next 1,000 posts.

Of the 10 blogging topics I noted back in October 2007, I would say that Apple, Blogs and RSS, Google, and Technology Innovators and Startups are still core focuses, with early startups rising incredibly. But I don't talk as much about Apple and TiVo as I once did, I reduced statistics discussion, and practically eliminated sports altogether.

Now, and you tell me if I'm wrong, I believe I blog about: 1) New Web Services and Startups, 2) Social Media Tools, including Twitter and FriendFeed, 3) Blogs and RSS, 4) Online Best Practices, 5) Google and Search Competitors, 6) Apple and iTunes, 7) Business and Finance, 8) IPhone Apps and Games, 9) Information Discovery and Overload, and 10) Personal Updates.

I wish there were an easy way to point out what were posts 50, 100, 250 and 500, but for now, it's always good enough just to point out post #1 from January 9th, 2006: Macworld Expo Eve 2006. If only I knew then what was to be a little hobby would turn out to be an obsession.

The Great Debate: Is College the Right Path to Succeed?

In my family, college wasn't so much an option, but an expectation. That was no surprise, given my dad had an M.D. and my mother got her doctorate in educational technology, alongside more than a decade's teaching experience at primary and secondary levels. In fact, my own decision, thus far, to not attend graduate school or get an MBA has been a greater source of internal debate. So when I saw at the end of last week that Daniel Brusilovsky, a 16-year-old friend of mine who operates the Teens In Tech service, which I advise for, was thinking of not going to college altogether, I considered him out of his mind.

Of course, mine was not the only opinion. With the very public examples of tech leaders such as Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and others who have not completed their degrees, it can be tempting for an aggressive entrepreneur to point their way for leadership. And yes, some college courses, like high school, seem to have almost no value for whatever you may eventually choose as your career. I personally know I derived as much benefit from working at the college newspaper as I believe I ever did from my college courses at UC Berkeley. But if I had tried to jump straight from high school to Silicon Valley, I would have been dead on arrival.

Rob Diana touched on some of these points this morning in his article on the reputation economy, but even if you're not a huge fan of FriendFeed, you should see the debate that has been raging the last few days, embedded here. Enjoy, and participate here or there. Up to you.

Forgive, But Remember - It Never Pays To Hold a Grudge

The saying is to "forgive and forget", but people aren't built that way. Once you feel you have been wronged, whether in a critical manner or one that is relatively trivial, it is practically impossible to erase the memory. But that doesn't mean you need to hold on to it - because for the most part, time does heal wounds, and the truth is, you never know the full story from the other person's perspective. Often, there will come a time when you will cross paths with that person again, and the next time, it just might be different.

Last month, I was asked by a well-known blogger if two of the public flare-ups we had on this site (with Mashable and Duncan Riley) had been for show, ostensibly for short-term traffic. I said that they were not contrived, but that we had come to terms quickly. Since the flare-ups, Mashable altered their editorial focuses, I've gotten to know some of the authors better, and others have moved on. Meanwhile, Duncan is a sharp guy who I often see on social networks, and bounce e-mails off of when we have ideas.

I was thinking of this again when I learned the news of Valleywag's changing of the guard today. As Owen Thomas departs, the void is set to be filled by Ryan Tate, previously the night editor at Gawker.

Eighteen months ago, I highlighted Ryan's launching of a new blog, called "The Hack", and at the time, I mentioned we had "occasionally clashed politically" more than a decade ago when we were both staff members at the Daily Californian student newspaper at UC Berkeley. He and I started working together back in 1996, both on the news authoring side, and the online publishing side. By the 1997-98 year, he was Editor In Chief at the newspaper, and by the 1998-99 year, I had moved on to work in the Silicon Valley (where I've been since).

Ryan and I had a lot of positive overlaps, as we collaborated on breaking news stories, longer investigate pieces, special sections and the online site's layout and focus. But of course, we bumped heads too. At the time, our clashes seemed critical, and now, they seem trivial. We both let those wounds heal and fade into the history, which is exactly what it was. And now, I am excited to see Ryan promoted to his new post, seeing it as another peer who emerged intact from the crucible which was the daily paper, where journalists and future bloggers were forged. One of these days, I should chase down all the names who were there when he and I shared spots on the editorial board, but they dot some of the top news media sources in the world.

I could have stayed ticked at Ryan, and he me. I could have turned my back on Duncan and Mashable too, but that's not fun, and it's not healthy. It's a small industry, and we're all working toward shared goals - to find interesting news quickly, and post with quality. Now, when the tendency is to get ticked, take things personally and go off on some rant, I know to hold my breath and pause. It's less exciting, and it doesn't get tons of traffic, but you won't see rants here, and I'm not carrying a grudge. You never know when you'll need these people again.

Congratulations, Ryan. I wish you well at your new post. But remember, if you come after me, I have 14 years of e-mail backed up. :)

Conquer Information Overload at the Inbound Marketing Summit

Earlier this week, I mentioned I am scheduled to speak at the Inbound Marketing Summit, featuring Chris Brogan, Tim O'Reilly, Tim Ferris, John Battelle, Loic Le Meur, Brian Solis, Charlene Li, and others. But it turned out that O'Reilly and I actually were on so close a wavelength that we practically submitted the same speaking topics. Aiming to be flexible, and let O'Reilly close strong, I thought we would revisit one of our favorite topics - how to avoid proverbial information overload, and find the right data at the right time, no matter where it is.

On Wednesday at 4:25 p.m. in San Francisco, just before O'Reilly finishes up, I'll be speaking on the topic, "There Is No Information Overload. Finding a Signal in the Noise".

The topic description leaves you with a little tip on what's coming:

"With a nearly constant stream of information related to you, your product and company from all corners, it can at times seem overwhelming. How can you break through the noise and find out all you need to, without being overwhelmed with a data tsunami? Don't just look to a chief information officer. Look to be a chief signal officer, by selectively finding where to listen, when to listen, how to listen, and if you should engage."

I've talked before about tackling information overload, and I'm looking forward to participating at the conference.

I do have a pair of VIP tickets available if you want to go, so send me an e-mail if you're interested.

Teens In Tech Takes On 32-Year-Old Advisor

Yesterday, I said I was going to try and say yes to everything, in an effort to get more involved with entrepreneurs, startups and other smart folks around the Web. One of the most direct ways I have been able to work with aggressive players is in an advisory role, helping to push the founders of BuzzGain, ReadBurner and SocialToo to roll out new features, raise awareness and deliver high quality products.

Today, I am happy to announce that I will also be working with Daniel Brusilovsky and the Teens In Tech team, joining their highly qualified advisory board, which also includes Daniel Ha of Disqus, Sam Lessin of Drop.io and others.

Daniel announced my addition to the board of advisors in a blog post yesterday, and I am looking forward to seeing how a 30-something married guy with kids and a resume with more than 10 years experience can try and give guidance to a bunch of teenagers without my coming off sounding like a fuddy-duddy. In my e-mail, phone and in person conversations with Daniel over the last few months, I have been very impressed with his intensity for tech, business, and a wisdom that is without a doubt beyond his years and look forward to helping him develop a successful platform for the next generation of Web addicts.

Founded in 2008, Teens In Tech is a media platform and community for teens. The company acquired the Youth Bloggers Network in March, and in January held the first Teens In Tech Conference. Expect to hear more about Daniel's plans soon.

Please Stretch Me Thinner: I'm Saying Yes to Everything

Yes we can. That may have been the rallying cry for 2008's victorious presidential candidate, but sometimes, I swear it's mine too, because every time I hear somebody say I can't do something, I want to make sure I do it, and do so well. Any time I hear somebody say I can't possibly keep up a certain pace, have to drop something, or that something is going to slow me down, I want to prove them wrong. Here's the truth - despite having a full-time job, a pair of active twins under a year old, and a fairly active online lifestyle that includes this blog, some social media activity, and three advisory board positions with early-stage start-ups, we're not done, and I want you to stretch me further. Do it.

So, as best as I can, I am saying yes to everything I can - and want to keep it up.

When at the SXSW conference last month, I participated in one panel, as was the rule of the show, but I wish I could have done one each day. I blogged every session I was in, and the videos you've seen thus far from Kipp Bodnar, from Wayne Sutton and Morgan Brown are only half the story, as was the coverage from the Times of London and The Guardian.

Last week, as I mentioned, I participated in the FFundercats podcast, and Josh and Johnny know they have an open invitation should they want me again.

Looking forward, on April 29th, I am signed up to speak at the Inbound Marketing Summit, put on by Chris Brogan and CrossTech Media, in San Francisco. I'll be speaking just ahead of Tim O'Reilly, who closes the show, and discussing how the promotion of others, including customers and competition, can help your brand (see the agenda). Hopefully you can attend.

And yes, I'm acting as an advisor for BuzzGain, ReadBurner and SocialToo, talking strategy with the entrepreneurs of each service, providing feedback on features and roadmaps and introducing them to new contacts. You should hear about a fourth advisory role in the next few days, and I haven't yet hit the saturation point. I also managed to sneak out to Boulder to see Lijit earlier this year, even if it wasn't in an official role, and that was a great experience.

I've also got a big trip planned this September to see Thomas Power and Ecademy in London - which I have to embarrassingly admit will be my first time out of North America, ever. Hopefully, it's just a start, and I look forward to offering more details on that soon.

So why mention all this? Because I want more. Feed me more. At recent business events, there is a dramatic need for those I run into to get an extra push to get and grasp blogging, to understand what's happening in social media, who's winning and losing, and best practices. And right now, I don't think my 5 minute answers are enough. I am starting to get inquiries from people to help them more formally, and yes, I will. I will also be signing up for more speaking opportunities, more panels, more podcasts, and more advisory roles if they think I can help. This is going to be fun, so abuse me. You know where to find me.

This Week's Destination: Las Vegas, Nevada

Another week, another trip. The Spring event season has us racking up frequent flier miles again, as following recent trips to Austin, Texas, Phoenix, Arizona and Orlando, Florida, we're away from home once more - this time for a full five days in Las Vegas, Nevada. As I told folks following the Orlando trip, "it sounds more fun than it really is". We're going to be attending and participating in the National Association of Broadcasters' Conference for the full week, with my work hat on.

The trip marks my third jaunt to Vegas in the last 7 months, following BlogWorld Expo last Fall, and company sales kickoff in February.

If you're a Las Vegas native, or your schedule and location just so happen to match mine, you know how to reach me. I'm powering up the iPhone now.

Once You Start, You Can Never Stop

Ever run into friends who tell you they want to start a blog, or are thinking of signing up for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or some other network, and you just know it's doomed to failure, because they won't commit to it? Starting is easy, but maintaining a pace can be hard. Whether for business or for pleasure, the number one thing I tell people about blogging is that once you start, you can never stop. Blogging is not something you do on a whim, or start and then abandon for the search engines of tomorrow. You must find a pace and always keep going - so if you start, be sure you've got a topic or ideas that are sustainable.

This week, thanks to work, family and other items hitting my schedule, I went a little light, not just here on the blog but on most of the networks - after a strong Monday. And while previously, I've told bloggers to "relax" as "nobody is keeping score", once you have established a pace, absence gets noticed. Today, while still at the office, I got a call from Robert Scoble, just checking in to see if all was well. And yes, it is. Just working and making sure everything is done before being out of the area all next week thanks to an upcoming tradeshow.

That Robert noticed shows how in tune he is on all the networks. I hadn't gone completely silent, but I did slow down my pace for a few days, and he caught me.

But while this was a mere blip in my usually regular posting schedule, it's one that happened well into my fourth year of blogging on this site, after nearly 2,000 posts, added on to tens of thousands of actions on FriendFeed, Twitter, Facebook and everywhere else. I'm not stopping. I'm not anywhere near done. But if you know folks who you think would walk away, see if you can stop them before they start, especially if how they present themselves has a chance to impact how your company or your project are perceived.

Income Down, Refund Up - Refreshing All the Way to the Bank

I don't like anything to take too much longer than it has to. I tend to write blog posts from beginning to end in one sitting. I don't like to stop TV shows and watch the second half later. And I really don't want to have to make doing my taxes an ordeal. That's why for the last several years, I've jumped onto TurboTax Online and powered my way through the year's data. Last night, the entire process took me less than two hours, including my wife and my W-2s, deductions for our various donations to charities and the church, by way of tithing, and synchronizing the results of my gains and losses (mostly losses) in investments through eTrade over the last year.

I've mentioned my using TurboTax a few times previously on this blog, including writeups after 2005 and 2006 taxes. But given the readership of the blog is ever-changing, and given the significant changes we're all seeing in terms of the economy, I thought I would share our experience again.

As an existing TurboTax user, all the year's previous data is saved for me. Rather than have to tell them every year where I work and where my wife works, it simply asks me if that data has not changed, and can automatically import the correct information. The automatic import of data from my brokerage account is also a dramatic timesaver compared to printing all my records out and hoping I get the data right.

As you know, 2008 changed a lot of things in our family. For one, we added two new dependents, with Matthew and Sarah joining us in the year. Also, as my wife stopped working in the middle of the year, her income decreased quite a bit. Lastly, and most importantly, as far as Uncle Sam was concerned, the gains I had seen in previous years on the stock market turned into losses, as they did for everybody else.


TurboTax Helpfully Shows Results vs. The Previous Year
The result? As expected, our household income went down by a good margin, but not so much that we're in dire straights. Yes, we're lower on cash than we'd like, but we have avoided debt, and I still have my job. And after last night's two-hour effort, this year's refund should help things quite a bit, especially as I have to strongly consider replacing my car, on its last legs, thanks to trouble with the transmission. (See FriendFeed thread here)

As it turns out, thanks to the drop in income, our new family status, and our being good citizens and tax payers, our refund grew by about 50 percent compared to last year. Even though it won't make up for the losses in the market, and our reduced income, it's something, and it's been great to just be able to log on to TurboTax and take care of the whole process in one evening. Now, I just have to check in with my bank every morning and see if the government has given us our share back. After all, three years ago, it only took ten days.

False Alarm on Credit Fraud Solved by My E-mail Hoarding

This evening, my wife handed me the phone, saying "It's Chase bank. They say there is suspicious activity on your account and to call them." Having never run into issues with fraud or identity theft, I've been lucky so far, despite liberally spreading my credit card details all over the Web, in a myriad of e-commerce sites and online services. With our recent travels, and my wife's own activity on the card, I thought there was a good chance this would be a false positive, which it was, but I came extremely close to canceling my card, and would have, had it not been for my often-mentioned e-mail pack rate behavior.

When I called into the fraud center, after identifying myself, the automated voice asked about some "odd" activities - one from a "record store" and another from an online eMarketing firm. Both sounded odd, so I ended up with an operator. As she explained to me, the "record store" was actually Apple's iTunes, to the tune of $.99. No problem. But the other one? It turned out it was based in South Africa, and had charged me $1.07. That was an odd number, but small, and I didn't recognize the firm. It sounded like "Quirky Marketing" or "Quirk iMarketing". Something...

When I said I didn't recognize the name of the service, the operator strongly advised me to cancel the card immediately. But I wasn't so sure. There was still the possibility I had made a mistake, and $1.07 didn't seem like a big deal. She again pushed me to cancel the card, saying if somebody in South Africa had my data, the next purchase could be a big one.

I asked her not to cancel the card, but after asking people on Twitter what they thought I should do, and seeing a near-unanimous response that I should follow the bank's advice, I was feeling like my smug naivete was going to catch up to me.

Searching Google for the firm name I thought she had mentioned found nothing memorable. And the South African connection sounded very weird. But there was one last place I could look - in my e-mail. As mentioned many times, I've saved practically all my useful e-mail going back more than a decade - making it an extremely deep personal database. So I searched for the term the woman had mentioned on the phone: "Quirk".

It turned up an e-mail confirmation from Quirk eMarketing from September 2008, for a product I had checked out called "BrandsEye". BrandsEye I would have remembered, but the "Quirk eMarketing" I'd largely forgotten. Their site left much to be desired, but my e-mail showed I'd signed up to a service that would charge 7 South African Rands a month to monitor online mentions. Depending on the exchange rate, one month's bill would be $1.01, and another would be $1.07. And while that didn't trigger any fraud alerts in September through February, today, it did. (Likely due to some other activity my wife initiated)

When I had gotten the online confirmation of my purchase back on September 28th of 2008, I moved the e-mail to my "Commerce" folder and saved it. I didn't know if I would ever need it again, but today, it came in extremely handy, and I won't be canceling my credit card. Phew!

Stand for Something and Become Someone

On Thursday, I was invited by Brian Solis to attend a dinner briefing in San Francisco with one of his clients. Shortly after arrival, other invitees began to dribble in through the door - a venerable who's who in the tech blogging space, including Jeremiah Owyang, Harry McCracken, Robert Scoble and Loic Le Meur - making me feel very small indeed, not to mention a tad out of place. And while the client had an interesting offering (more on that soon), it was, of course, the side conversations between the attendees that drew the most value. (See the Photos)

Seated between Robert and Loic for dinner, I got the feeling there were Twitter users, bloggers and entrepreneurs who would have paid good money to trade places with me, but I wasn't out to sell anything or pitch anything. In fact, the best conversations I had were with Loic about why we do what we do, the reasons we don't push for ads on the blog, how we try to separate the work life and the blog life, and debate on whether I could be trusted with pre-release info on one product if I already used the competition or knew what they had planned.

To net down what was a great discussion, I primarily told Loic that:

1. Our reviews of products and services are honest, but primarily positive
2. We prefer not to write negative pieces, for our benefit and readers as well
3. That we can be trusted to keep things quiet when asked
4. We don't seek out or respond to controversy for page views' sake

And to me, all of those boil down to a major headline, which is "Stand for Something". Stand for being trustworthy and try to be remembered for quality, not controversy.

In the last few days, just following the conclusion of the dinner, you saw headlines about how Scoble has concluded his time at Fast Company TV - and speculation has started as to what's next for the visible technology evangelist. And yes, the issue was discussed a bit at the dinner as well. To be fully transparent, I knew about the change earlier in the week, from a phone call I had with Robert. And yes, he told me what's next, as well as some of the reasons for his leaving, which hasn't been discussed. But as a friend and someone I want him to trust, that's where it ends, as I believe the news is his to make and break - and if someone else beats him to the punch, it won't be me.

I could have stomped all over the relationship and posted the information Tuesday or Wednesday, but I thought it better to hold off - because the short-term burst of visibility and traffic would be outweighed by the longer-term negatives of breaking the confidentiality, and changing what you could expect from me on the blog.

At one point during Thursday's conversation, Loic said, "For some reason, I think you're someone I would trust." And this came even as we discussed the fact I helped raise the visibility of TweetDeck, a Thwirl competitor, when Iain first released his product. Would my previous posts on TweetDeck mean I would never give Thwirl the same opportunity? To me, it would not - with good examples being my coverage of Posty and PeopleBrowsr, when those products were launched or updated. Loic, and other entrepreneurs making news, should know that if they pass along confidential or embargoed information, that it won't be posted early, and it won't be sent to their competition. That's a big part of being trusted and standing for something.

For those longer-term readers of the site, you've seen me address the issue of writing negative posts, and another where I talked about what I believe as a blogger. I occasionally write these inwardly-looking posts to explain why I do what I do, and how I want to remain personal and understood.

Even though we don't have the strong traffic and visibility of some sites, the blog has gotten a good share of early access to services and to people. There are probably a dozen interesting products and services that I know are planning things before SXSW which have already gotten my interest. And every time I get an e-mail asking if I will respect a timeline, I write back "the next time I break an embargo will be the first time." As somebody who plays on both sides of the "make news" and "break news" wall, I get what people are trying to do, and the short-term rush of breaking the rules won't make me feel good for very long. And doing so can severely damage my reputation.

After discussing another issue, on how to deal with criticism, and ignoring those who would put you down for the sake of riling you up to get attention, Loic noted that we both try to be positive and avoid controversy, even if it can get you noticed. And that's likely a factor of why he posted a note to Twitter, saying, "You got me think again about quality versus quantity. Quantity matters less."

There's no question I would like to increase the quantity of posts here on louisgray.com. I wish there were a way to cover every single good story I run across with the same level of review and enthusiasm I can give the top stories. That's part of why we've gotten help from additional writers. But we will work very hard to avoid reducing the quality of the posts, even if it means we won't post as many, and we will miss stories as a result. And that's okay. Because I would rather stand for quality and stand for being trustworthy than to be known for throwing articles over the fence that could have been done much better.

As I told Brian yesterday, I greatly appreciated being invited to the dinner. It was at the dinner that I met Jeremiah and Harry for the first time, and it was also the first time where I could speak with Loic for more than five minutes. And as can always happen in a room full of people who really care about technology, we got to thinking again.

They say that everything you put online can eventually be found by Google. In August of 2007, well before most of you had seen this site, I said that your blog is your brand. So when you post things online, make them stand for something, and think about who you are and how you want to be interpreted. I want to stand for quality and trust, and we will refuse to compromise there.

TechBlips Puts Me Under the Spotlight

When Future US purchased the BallHype and ShowHype properties, there were questions in some corners of the blogosphere in terms of what the company had planned - and if they had overspent. When lacking details, many people tend to jump to the conclusion that there are no plans at all, but in the ensuing months, Future US has stepped on the accelerator in terms of rolling out new vertically-focused communities, covering everything from gadgets and Macintosh, to general tech, marketing, politics and even Wall Street.

TechBlips, the 12th property to be rolled out by the same team behind the "Hype" properties focuses on tech Web sites, big and small. Speaking of small, they made an effort to reach out to me, and delivered a solid Q&A profile, posted to the site this afternoon.

In the post, Douglas C. Perry, who sent me the questions, and does a great job in his intro, we talk about how louisgray.com got started, what sites I read every day, reactions from friends and coworkers, how I use Twitter, and why I blog in the first place, how I make time to do it, and some of my favorite stories. You can find the article here: TechBlips Spotlight on Louis Gray.

As I mentioned yesterday, it's a very unusual thing, still, for me to get the opportunity to speak up, but I very much appreciate TechBlips' interest, and the effort to put the piece together. They also have a very interesting site, much like Digg but with actual class and focus.

And if you like the interview, check out some similar pieces from the past:

Mark Evans: Who’s Louis Gray?
Scribkin: I AM BLOGGER: LOUIS GRAY

I Fear I Can Only Burn the Candle From One End Now

Image via Dreamstime.com
Maybe I am finally getting old - or maybe the days of staying up until 2 and getting up at 6 day after day are finally catching up to me. Maybe it's the twins. But for whatever reason, I have found that getting up earlier than normal has much more of an impact on my system than having stayed up late the previous day - even if the total hours having slept in between are the same. I don't believe it is an issue of perception, and I don't believe it is an issue of personal preference, but it has most certainly happened.

On Thursday, I had a 7:15 flight out of San Jose to Denver to meet with Lijit, and as a result, I had set my alarm to spur me awake by 5, so I could be up and ready and packed and on my way. I slipped out of the house in the dark, winking at the kids as they, luckily for my wife, stayed asleep. And by that night, I was dragging. It might have been a factor of the high elevation, or a full day, but I was flagged by 10 - an unthinkable sin for my usual standards of uptime.

In contrast, the prior week, I had stayed up until 3:30 working on a writing project, and still managed to get up and get the family to church by 9 the next morning, with no downside, so far as I could tell. Had I instead opted to go to bed at midnight, and set the alarm for 4:30, to start the project, there is no doubt I would have been hitting the snooze bar enough times that I would have lost the opportunity.

After a high school job that had me working graveyard shift from 1:30 to 9:30 a.m. during the summers, and time at UC Berkeley spent as the online editor, when I would arrive as late as midnight, once the paper had gone to bed, posting through 4 a.m., and making morning classes, I just can't take the hit on the early side that I used to.

I've written about the issue of sleep, and how much of an impediment it is to my getting everything done. (See: Sleep Is a Waste Of Time and Insomnia - I Can't Get No Sleep)

The twins themselves are not really part of the problem any more. They, on a typical night, go to bed at 7:30 p.m. and wake up at 8 the following morning. It's perfect. And when Sarah woke up at midnight to 1 a.m. last night, I was delighted to get some one on one time. But had she woken up instead at 5:30 this morning, I'd have been bleary eyed and bitter for sure. While I recognize the change, and admit I probably need to plan on not carving into my mornings, I am fighting the change, as for me, it seems like a partial fail.

Three And Out Takes Third Fantasy Football Trophy. Shrug.

As the Super Bowl wrapped up the year's NFL season, so to ended the year's fantasy football season - which on some days seems dramatically more important. And, now that the dust has cleared, my team has finished 1st overall, just like it did the last time I played, in the 2005-06 season, and the 2001-02 season, my rookie year. And while I should be elated, given my push to be competitive, and love of sports and all things statistical, ending up the winner is met more with a shrug than jubilation - partly because of the knowledge the competition is complete, with no more weekly battles, and also, as the margin of victory was already guaranteed, making today's game moot.

As I mentioned back on January 4th (See: Geek Leading Fantasy Football League During Playoff Push), I managed to take a lead after the 1st week of the playoffs, and knew I was well-positioned going into week two, but surprisingly, a lot of little things went right for my squad, and badly for everyone else - so while there were many upsets each weekend, the only real surprise in our league was that I managed to not only keep the lead - but score highest every single Sunday, increasing my lead.


By the time the Pittsburgh Steelers were crowned NFL champions this evening, I had finished the four-week playoff round with a total of 391 points, almost twice that of the second-place finisher, who had 217 points, followed by the stragglers at 190 points and 101. To give you an idea of how wild it is that I scored so many points, just three years ago I won it all with 281 points, beating out the second place team, who scored 239, and the prior year, I had finished second, losing 290 to 265 - much closer contests than the 2008-09 playoffs. (See: Kiss of Death League: History)

So how did this happen? As with any good fantasy squad, significant luck was involved. I had expected the Carolina Panthers to do very well, and possibly contend for the Super Bowl title. But as we were drafting one Saturday morning, I wanted to make sure I didn't post a zero in the initial Wild Card contests, and loaded up on the high-offense Arizona Cardinals, getting the quarterback and wide receiver pair of Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, as well as the San Diego Chargers' Darren Sproles, who I expected to rack up points returning kickoffs against what was supposed to be a superior Colts squad. But then Sproles became the primary running back as Ladanian Tomlinson was injured, and the Chargers beat the Colts. And virtually everyone knows what happened to Arizona. They went all the way to the Super Bowl, and both Warner and Fitzgerald set records along the way. It almost didn't seem fair as my team excelled while others were virtually eliminated by week one.


I'm torn because I love the fact I blew out the field. But I also would have liked some better competition, and to have been watching Sunday's Super Bowl with the knowledge my fantasy season could also be on the line. I love that I won by such big margins because I'm going to enjoy going through the stats, but it isn't exactly fun to talk trash (a major part of fantasy football) when you're ahead by 100 points, so for the last month, that piece has practically been eliminated.

How much did loading up on Arizona help me? According to the league statistics, Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner were the 1st and 2nd highest scorers, garnering me 180 points between them. Add in the 44 points from Arizona special teams, and I'd be at 224, already ahead of the second-place finisher, and that doesn't even take into consideration the 74 points picked up by Sproles, who had an amazing first two weeks.

So now it's all done. At some point, I'll probably get a PayPal notification rewarding me about $200 or so, which is nice, but not life-changing. The first thing I'll likely do? Go out and see if I have to buy my own trophy to match the other two on my bookshelf. What's the fun in winning three times if you can't show everyone?

Early Adoption Can Stem to Music As Well

This photo, unearthed from the archives in 1978, shows me rocking out to the tunes, bottle in hand, just like many other more aged musicians. But while some of these musicians used the bottle as a gateway to more recreational drugs, I never quite made that step. Instead, I continue to focus... on the music.

Anybody who follows my Last.fm activity, either through the site, or through my FriendFeed stream, knows I have an "early adopter" approach to music as well. I can hardly stand most contemporary pop, dabble only a tad in R&B, but have been a huge fan of electronic/trance music and techno practically since my first encountering of these unique sounds. Graduating from Depeche Mode, the Cure and REM in junior high school, I added on Information Society and the Smiths in high school before going head-long into beats from Underworld, Chemical Brothers, Orbital, the Crystal Method, and all matter of electronic DJs, including Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk, DJ Tiesto, and many others.

Yesterday, my partner in crime, Mike Fruchter, alerted me to an unexpected source for more down-tempo tunes, which I've had playing ever since, and plan to start again when I'm done. Adam Singer, of The Future Buzz, happens to be an excellent musician in his own right. I knew he was already a great blogger, but to do both at the same time? Outstanding.

If you share my musical interests, or just want to listen in, go check out www.adamsinger.org for a preview, where you can download his full albums in Zip form, which expand to MP3 and a perfect addition to your iTunes library. I particularly recommend "Lifeforce", "Drifting" and his remix of Depeche Mode's "I Feel You".

Rock on.

Geek Leading Fantasy Football League During Playoff Push

At the end of August, I told you how I manage to take what should be an enjoyable, brainless, activity like fantasy football, and still 'nerd it up', reverting to laptops, Excel spreadsheets and Web-based databases. (See: The Even Geekier Approach to Fantasy Football) Now more than four full months later, the NFL regular season has ended, as have most fantasy football teams, who wrap things up before the playoffs begin. But not the one I'm in. The top four teams in the 12-team league completely start over, redrafting from the playoff rosters, and battle it out in a prolonged contest that lasts through the Super Bowl.

I thought I'd catch you up.

As I mentioned back in August, one of the benefits of not having a favorite team is that I can put my biases aside and pick who I think will do the best, not just who I wanted to do the best. Luckily for me, this led to a quick start, where I scored more than 100 points in 3 of the first 4 games, and at one point had a 10-2 record, having won seven straight head to head contests.

Despite a late-season fade that saw me finish 11-5 overall, a full game behind the league's first-place finisher, I won the division, and was among four teams that got to participate in the playoffs, which started yesterday.

Unlike Yahoo! Sports, ESPN and other online leagues, which use the regular seasons' last weeks as the playoffs, we completely reset and start from zero - adding a new level of strategy, where which teams you pick are just as important as the players. Picking players from teams that get eliminated in the first week means you lose them from your roster, and there are no pickups - so choose wisely...

As a two time winner, having collected trophies in the 2001-02 season and 2005-06 season, I took on this week's draft hoping my experience would have an advantage. (See: Three And Out Takes Fantasy Football Title from February of 2006) But, after taking two full years off from the game, there was always concern I'd had my head so deep in playing tech blogger that I'd forgotten how to do it right. (See: An NFL Season Without Real Fantasy Football?)

Luckily, so far, things look good.

I filled my 13-person roster with three Carolina Panthers, including the red-hot De'Angelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, three Arizona Cardinals, including the veteran Kurt Warner at QB, and a handful of players with huge upside, including the San Diego Chargers' Darren Sproles, who could score points for me as a rusher, receiver and kick returner, the Eagles' Brian Westbrook and the Falcons' Michael Turner at running back. (See: Roster with Scoring History)

Saturday and Sunday's games played out practically as I would have liked. San Diego staved off the favored Indianapolis Colts. The Cardinals beat out Atlanta. And the Eagles defeated the Vikings at home in Minnesota. As our league playoffs progress, this means I've lost a bare minimum of players after the first weekend, as my opponents lost some key talent. And as most sports fans know, Darren Sproles had an amazing game, garnering 42 points (in fantasy land). Warner contributed 18, Westbrook 17, and Larry Fitzgerald a solid 16. This helped propel my team to 129 points in the first weekend, with none of the other three teams breaking 100. (See: Standings)

My previous years in the league tell me that an early lead is good, but not enough. In order for me to sustain the momentum, I'll have to see my players stay active. If next week is a disaster, and is as bad as this weekend was good, it could be over in a matter of hours. But the start is good.

If you played fantasy football this year, how did you do? How did your league handle the playoffs?

See: Kiss of Death League Reloaded Playoffs

Armchair Quarterbacking and Why I Talk to Companies Using the Blog

Whether it's due to the fact it's another 'slow news' weekend, or due to the fact I was more bare in my recommendations for how FriendFeed, a service I am constantly using and like a lot, could improve in yesterday's post than I usually am, there was quite a bit of feedback from around the Web, which both echoed the comments I had made, and questioned the reason for my making them in the first place. Interestingly enough to me, despite a full year or so of being called a FriendFeed addict, apologist, or what have you for my consistent favoring of the service, several people tried to construe my direct suggestions as somehow interpreting the site would fail - which I don't believe I ever came close to saying. But what they missed was I have a history of offering suggestions to companies, both new and established. Sometimes, I can do this 1-1 with the developers, but often I use the blog.

A person's blog can be whatever they want it to be. It can be your brand. It can be a megaphone that allows you to speak to many at once. It can be a personal diary. I've chosen to make mine about services I find interesting, and to a lesser extent, about me. The posts I make are about services I encounter and usually care about. I tell you how I feel or what I saw, and make it personal. And when I give feedback about companies, it comes from my thoughts and usually is spat out top to bottom as I was thinking about it, with little organization - just raw.

And given the blog's relative obscurity in 2007 and 2006, it's likely few saw my original set of feedback I offered FriendFeed more than a year ago - and how it mirrored other occasions where I've done similar posts for other services.

For example:

• February 18, 2007:How to Make LinkedIn Even Better
• March 3, 2007: 10 Suggestions to Improve Google Reader
• March 12, 2007: 10 More Suggestions for LinkedIn
• August 27, 2007: What Is the Future Of MyBlogLog?
• December 30, 2007: 10 Suggestions for FriendFeed
  
• March 9, 2008: 10 Suggestions for Google Reader, One Year Later
• August 27, 2008: 10 Suggestions To Improve FriendFeed's Beta

And I haven't always been nice. See: Fav.or.it Beta Effort is Not My Favorite. Not Even Close. and After Monkeying Around, I'm Not Going Bananas for Chi.mp, for example.

On August 29th of 2007, I wrote that you should Use Your Blog To Talk To Companies, and I've been doing that. I do it because as consumers we are often the silent party in the buyer and seller relationship. The company controls the product, the message, the delivery method, and tells you how you should use it. As a consumer, you can buy it, and you can be satisfied, or not. I tend to believe that as a consumer, I may have some ideas that the company either didn't think about, or didn't think were as important as other items. By using the blog, I can make my opinion clear, and also act as a sounding board for other people who might have shared the same opinions, but didn't know where to start, or thought they were alone.

Just look at some of the comments I saw on Twitter following yesterday's post:

@elizabethsosnow: "I am one of the stale accounts."
@spinko: "Louis Gray talks about friendfeed and how it's not intuitive for new users like myself. Amen, I still don't get FF."
@maryhodder: "just read the Louis Gray article myself.. agree. FF is overwrought and makes me feel like i'm drowning."
@jayrosen_nyu: '"Simply put, people aren't getting it." Louis Gray on FriendFeed's barriers to intuitive use. I'm one of those people.'

Sarah Lacy said she is one of those people I described in yesterday's post who pipes their data in and gets a lot of followers, but doesn't participate. For whatever reason, FriendFeed hasn't won her over, and she says the company didn't try to engage her inactive account (one of the suggestions I had yesterday).

I mention these not to pile on, but to show the post started a discussion of people who weren't thinking about the issue, and might possibly have extended the visibility of the issue to others who thought everything was "just fine". As Duncan Riley of the Inquisitr said, FriendFeed Isn’t Dying, and I never said it was.

What I chose to do with yesterday's post, and the many before it was to speak up where the above examples had chosen to be silent. Mark Trapp called it 'Armchair Entrepreneuring' and said I could collect more flies with honey than vinegar, adding, "Offering feedback is one thing: but the sheer hubris of tech bloggers that they know how to run a company better than the ones actually running it is entirely different." But I wasn't aiming for hubris, nor was I aiming for linkbait, as my cranky Canadian friend, Steven Hodson, suggested I might be. What I was doing was sharing my candid thoughts about a service I really like and one I want to get better and better.

I use the blog because it is public. It is searchable and others with similar issues can find it. I use the blog to talk to companies because very often, they listen. Many of the suggestions I've given to LinkedIn, to Google Reader, to FriendFeed and others have happened. I'm not naive enough to think it was because I recommended they would, but it tells me I occasionally am on the right track.

I will armchair quarterback and keep talking to companies, as Dave Winer says, to help them, not to hurt them, and to help others. And sometimes, companies really do value the feedback. That's part of why I'm working with ReadBurner, SocialToo and engaging with others informally. It's about pushing people who make products to make them even better than they are now, and potentially, being part of that process.

I've Taken a New Advisory Role With SocialToo

One of the most fun and rewarding byproducts of operating this blog has been to connect with entrepreneurs looking to improve their product and gain early feedback. Sometimes, I can help by doing more than just spreading the word about services I like, but get the opportunity to take time to suggest new product features, point out what I consider to be flaws, and suggest how they can better adjust to address competitors. In the majority of cases, this takes place ad hoc via e-mail or phone. In rarer cases still, I find a working relationship with an individual and the product such that we both find our cooperation mutually beneficial and have taken the next step to make it formal.

As I discussed and disclosed back In August, one of those roles was when I became an advisor to ReadBurner. Tonight, I wanted to update you and let you know I have also taken a similar role with SocialToo, which Jesse Stay, a contributor to this site, and the service's CEO, calls "your companion to the Social Web."

Since first learning of SocialToo this summer, and using it for several months, I have become very interested not just in what the product does today - primarily helping to quietly manage your Twitter account in the background, and to deliver social surveys to friends on multiple social networks, but also in a few potential directions I saw as next steps for the product.

Without Jesse's prompting, in November, I sent him a detailed outline of a new product derivative of SocialToo, which I would believe will fulfill a still-unanswered gap in the social networking space. Jesse, having significant experience coding programs for not just Twitter, but Identica and Facebook as well, seemed like the logical partner for some of my ideas. Jesse and I have since talked many times in regards to how I think his service can take the leap from obscurity to being more robust and visible, as it grows in capability and users.

As with the ReadBurner relationship, I aim to continue being transparent with you and other developers who believe they might be competitors to or partners with SocialToo in some way. And while I may be more closely tied with Jesse and the service going forward, helping to impact and review the product's roadmap, I expect to be even more critical than before, sometimes behind the scenes, and sometimes publicly, as I have with ReadBurner. I will also update my about page to reflect the relationship.

As a side note, do I expect to quit my day job and fill my LinkedIn profile with scads of advisory roles, although some of you noted the addition of SocialToo to the list over the weekend? No. But when opportunities arise to help build new companies and services that will help the Web and sound like something I want in a big way, I am more than eager to make my time available. Additionally, the relationship with SocialToo should not have any impact on Jesse's postings here. Jesse for the better part of four months has covered those topics he finds interesting, and will continue to do so. And when it makes sense that he disclose his SocialToo position, he will do so.

To learn more about SocialToo as it stands today, go to www.socialtoo.com. Jesse Stay's personal blog can be found at: www.staynalive.com.

Well, There Goes My 'Perfect' Driving Record!

One of the bullets in my theoretical real-world resume for the better part of the last two decades has been that my driving record is spotless. No tickets. No accidents. I've never hit anyone and they've never hit me. I'd practically felt invincible. For whatever reason, through 15 years of being a licensed motorist, I've never had any points added to my record. I've never had a moving violation, or attracted much more than a warning from a police officer.

That line is going to have to change, because last night, I got pulled over for speeding, and sure enough, I got a real citation which I doubt I'll be able to contest and get out of.

The incident put an ugly exclamation point on what otherwise was a solid and enjoyable week and a half off from the office, punctuated by visits with extended family, many of whom I hadn't seen for years. But lingering behind late yesterday, while needing to get into work early today, likely put extra pressure to get home quickly. Starting the two-hour drive back to the Bay Area last night around 10:30 at night, we had open freeway for the most part, and were soon cruising around 80 miles an hour, with traffic, occasionally going a bit higher.

It's that "a bit higher" which no doubt attracted the attention of the highway patrol. As has happened hundreds of times before, I saw the patrol car alongside the freeway, lights off, waiting for its next victim. But I probably saw it too late, or didn't slow enough to make the officer happy. As the patrol car fell into my rear view mirror, his lights came on, and though I changed lanes to let him go by (hopefully), he chose instead to follow me, and ask me to pull over. Matthew and Sarah, asleep in their car seats, didn't notice.

So after 11 p.m., when most people are in bed, or at least thinking about it, I was left telling this officer that yes, I had seen his car, and yes, I understood I had been going faster than the marked limit of 65. I said I had been doing 80, and he countered with 89. What can you do? He probably was right, at that moment in time. On a clear night with little traffic, the car is certainly capable. That I was driving the Toyota Rav-4, which doesn't look like an old clunker, like practically every other car I've ever owned, probably had something to do with my not sliding by this time as well.

So he wrote me up and I'm getting a citation. All my "Yes sir"s and "No sir"s in the world, and the lack of alcohol or anything else exciting weren't enough to get me out of it. So now, I have to live with the fact not that I'm a law-breaker... but that I finally got caught. Dang.

See Also:
louisgray.com:
California's New Sport: Balancing the Cell Phone Below the Dashboard
Web Robin:
Police: Was Louis Driving Drunk Friday?

2008 Internal Year In Review (Month by Month)

At the end of the year, it's a tradition for many sites and blogs to pick "best of" lists, offer predictions, show their best posts and the like. At louisgray.com, we're no different. In fact, we're probably worse than most when it comes to liking to sort, use statistics, find trends and display highlights. I thought it'd be fun (at least for me) to do a quick run through the year soon to be completed, looking at how things progressed - the good, bad, interesting, and not so much. Below is a quick summary, somewhat, of how each month went, including the top stories and new companies and people we encountered along the way.

Question is... what's the most common word in this wrap-up? My guess? The word "debuted." See why below.

January

In January, I said I didn't care much for the year's MacWorld Expo, discovered ReadBurner in stealth mode, which led to the introduction of Shared Reader... considered joining Twitter... got in a quick tiff with Mashable... actually joined Twitter... hit the Techmeme leaderboard for the first time (which was short lived)... noted the passing of church president Gordon B. Hinckley... saw the launch of AssetBar, and became part of the Elite Tech News Reddit. And at the end of the month, Rating Burner debuted.

February

February saw Microsoft and Yahoo! start their mating dance, as I admitted rooting for the underdog, but voted for Hillary anyway... saw RSSmeme debut to compete with ReadBurner, the introduction of LinkRiver... I introduced the LouisGray.com logo and revamped the site... and revealed my wife and I were expecting twins. I noted issues with FeedBurner, and saw FriendFeed open up to the public with Series A funding. At the end of the month, I met Chris Brogan, and wasn't so impressed with MyBlogLog's lifestream.

March

In March, we discovered Yokway! incubating in alpha before launch, saw the debut of Mergelab and Shyftr, but in the bad news camp, ReadBurner shut down (temporarily). To welcome new readers, I gave a history of the site... and started highlighting new blogs for the first time. Meanwhile FriendFeed started to take off, even if I said Duncan Riley didn't get it right away. I also managed to smash my laptop at Spring Training. Later in the month, Toluu debuted.

April

In April, we looked at changes on the Techmeme leaderboard... I was not impressed with Favorit... Yuvi put me under the microscope... BlogRize and Socialmedian debuted on back to back days... and we first discussed fractured conversations. Alphatwitter debuted... ReadBurner relaunched... and I made no friends in the blogosphere by ranting against ads. FriendFeedMachine was introduced... I went to Web 2.0 Expo... where I learned about the Profy platform... and then ticked everyone off on Twitter by making up a "Noise Ratio". I later added Disqus comments and discussed my social media consumption workflow.

May

In May, the StatBot launched, but Mergelab closed down while still in beta. I noted Socialmedian's early growth... and Duncan Riley's first week at the Inquisitr.... started the weekly FriendFeed Friday tip series... saw LetsProve start up... and the introduction of FFToGo, which took FriendFeed mobile. I also added Lijit to my blog... and noted who first brought stories to Techmeme. The end of the month saw TweetSmart launch.

June

In June, we talked a lot about comments. Were they conversations or replies... and was FriendFeed stealing them away... I slammed TiVo for having no social media presence... saw FriendBinder debut... our 18 year old beagle passed away... we discussed five stages of early adopter behavior... I praised Disqus... and saw the debuts of Feedly, OneSpot and Loud3r... Sarah and Matthew were born... and I told you my expectations... Browzmi launched... as did NoiseRiver and MioNews, as new interfaces to FriendFeed.

July

By July 1, Sarah came home from the hospital... TweetDeck was introduced... and AssetBar relaunched with FanFlows... we encountered blatant racism online... Ballhype was purchased... and I mocked the title of social media expert. Twitter started limiting API requests... as Gnip went live... Socialmedian gave me an iPhone... Identica rose as an alternative to Twitter as the site found new ways to fail... Cuil was a dud... I joined SmugMug... and Matthew lost his job at CenterNetworks.

August

In August, I told you about a creepy would-be online stalker... California banned driving without a hands-free cell phone... the twins started slowing me down online... Feedheads launched on the Web... I joined ReadBurner as an advisor... YooPlace launched... we discussed why the embargo process was broken... rumors flew the church would buy Facebook... Strands debuted, as did BackType.

September

September saw the introduction of Google Chrome... FriendFeed rolled out lists... i.TV came to the iPhone... the falling stock market started to hit my wallet... Sitemeter laid an egg... I went to BlogWorld Expo... and I thought Chi.mp was a waste of time...

October

In October, I noted Obama's widespread support at tech companies... saw Spokeo give up on Web 2.0... started e-mailing RSS items... forecast the future of social media... and saw FriendFeed launch real-time updates. Guest posts gained momentum... and my kids got embedded in social media early... Twine launched... we discussed Prop 8... as Socialmedian made an election news hub.

November

November brought us instant streaming films via Netflix... Strands went mobile... I started using Wakoopa... Twitter promised (and failed) to open the firehose by Thanksgiving... I said to be a "real friend" to social networking friends... saw the Twitterank controversy... participated in an emerging media panel... watched Glue launch... saw the MotrinMoms issue explode... SocialToo added surveys... I kept losing money... slept next to the iPhone for comfort... and enjoyed new apps for the device.

December

I started off December annoyed at TiVo and Amazon... but still loved the iPhone... talked about Secret Santas and Amazon Wish Lists... PeopleBrowsr debuted... as did Kallow... ESPN.com introduced a beta version... and my wife started a family-oriented blog... Netflix came to my TiVo... BlogRize returned... I picked my top ten 2008 debuts... Twitter kept growing like mad... but last year's predictions sucked... TwitOrFit launched... Steve Jobs bailed from MacWorld... Gawkk opened up... Embargoes flared up again... Socialmedian was acquired... I got a new TiVo XL... promised to get better... Scrapplet debuted as did TechFuga... I even retold the Christmas Story through Twitter...

And... that just about catches you up. So if you're just visiting the site for the first time, started late, or missed a few months, you probably have a pretty good idea of how the year went, what we wrote about, and where we went. All in all, it reminds me of a lot of stories of months past, and services that need a revisit. It also tells me we had a pretty busy year. Should be interesting to see if 2009 is more crazy, or if I burn out. My money is on... "more crazy" - the exception being I don't plan on having two more kids next year. So... did I leave anything out?

Bias, Bias and More Bias. I Haz It. So Do You.

A few weeks ago, the blogosphere's flareup of choice was around a handful of bloggers who had opted into a commercial program from KMart, where they wrote posts in exchange for gift cards to the retail chain. (See Chris Brogan's original post and the follow-up for a recap.) The controversy lay in whether participating in the campaign eroded the participants' credibility. Could their allegiance be bought for a few bucks? Would other posts be not so clearly labeled, but also paid for?

As somebody who has never posted a sponsored post, or been paid to say anything on this site, ever, I'm somewhat on the outside looking in for that specific discussion. But if you extend the idea of bias and influence a tad further, it's everywhere you look.

Longtime readers of the site know I play favorites. In February, I said I "don't play fair", favoring small companies over large ones. I promote services, people, blogs and ideas I like. I ignore conversations I don't care about. I choose products to not buy. I don't write about topics I don't find interesting. That's because the blog is personal, and I'm not an automaton.

My biases come from ten years of working in Silicon Valley, touching roles from product requirements to product deployment and evangelism, customer interaction and highlighting, public relations, business development, Web development, sales and advertising. My biases come from a decade and a half of being a near full-time Web consumer, finding services I've had good experiences with and those I've had bad ones, making and enforcing preferences.

If KMart came to me, offering $500 to do a giveaway, I'd almost certainly ignore it. Not because $500 is pocket change (it's not), but because I don't care for the KMart brand and going that direction isn't interesting to me. It sets a precedent and I would expect my readers to have the same questions they did for the others involved. But there are dozens of services who I have highlighted on the blog over the last three years, for whom I would be happy to highlight their latest updates, for free, because I find them interesting and I hope you do as well. I delight in finding new services and acting as an early adopter to find the good through the raw, and see potential.

I am biased. I am biased in favor of Apple and its products, as a long-time user. I am biased in favor of products I use and understand well, like FriendFeed, Socialmedian, Strands, Twitter, SocialToo, LinkedIn, Disqus, Lijit, Google Reader, SmugMug, BackType and many more you've heard me talk about. I am biased in favor of the entrepreneurs whom I have had early relationships with through e-mail, by phone, or in person. I am biased in favor of bloggers and other content producers who I believe write well on subjects that have my interest.

In August, I talked about this issue a bit, saying, "If You Look Hard Enough, Conflicts of Interest Are Everywhere". And in the case anything got official, as it did with ReadBurner, I told you all about it.

Even though I like these products, these people, and their ideas, the idea is to continue to be trusted. What liking a product doesn't do is force me to make up things that they don't do, or gloss over clear issues. If I were to say issues weren't there, you wouldn't trust a review. If I were to say a product did something it didn't, my credibility would disappear. But I'm not swayed to like a product because I've gotten paid, because I haven't been. Practically the only items I've ever received from these companies are T-shirts, and while I love logo'd T-shirts like any other Valley geek, it's not enough to flip me to the dark side.

I'm biased, but I'm transparent. I bet you're biased as well. We all are. You can see it everywhere.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Gray Family

Happy Holidays! Download the 2008 Letter in PDF
It has been an incredible 2008 to say the least for our family. It's clear the #1 event for us was the arrival of Matthew and Sarah on June 20th. We had finally told the world the twins were coming, back in February, once we thought it was 'safe'.

And to be honest, while we were so excited and wanted to tell the world about our twins last year at this time, we were being quiet on the matter. That's why there was absolutely no Christmas letter in 2007! How to feign ignorance? So, retroactively, our apologies.

On top of the twins' arrival, we did manage to have some fun this year. Clearly, the blog gained a bit of visibility in 2008, its third full year, and we enjoyed meeting some amazing people and entrepreneurs as a result. In March, we also attended Oakland A's spring training in Arizona, for our third consecutive year, and hope to keep the tradition up, with twins in tow, in 2009.

And as with prior years, many other items stayed the same. Same home, same cars, same job. Kristine took a year off from teaching, and may take another, if we're lucky. We want Matthew and Sarah to get as much mom time as possible.

So, without further ado, download our 2008 holiday letter in PDF here. Also available? Our 2006 and 2005 letters of Christmas past.

Happy Holidays!

10 Things I Wish I Would Do Better On the Web Come 2009

To most readers here, it's no secret I'm fairly active online. I try to keep up with the news by absorbing a strong amount of feeds in Google Reader, and then share the best of those with you on my shared links blog. I try to keep the blog consistently published with good insight, both from me and the rapidly-expanding team of contributors. I attempt to be visible and participate in a small array of social networks, from Facebook to Twitter to Friendfeed, Socialmedian and Strands. I try to answer e-mail as it comes in, and monitor or reply to comments. But I know I'm not doing a perfect job. If I only had more hours in the day, and made this my priority, here are some of the things I wish I would do better on the Web, and things I'll be paying more attention to as the calendar flips from 2008 to 2009:

1) Make More Comments on Original Blog Posts

Every day I come in contact with hundreds and hundreds of new stories. The vast majority of them I read in my RSS reader. I click through a small percentage, share a different percentage and e-mail others. I am also encountering many other new stories via FriendFeed and other social aggregators, exposing me to new ideas and news.

But while I already know I am not reading enough stories at their source, I'm certainly not participating and commenting enough. I need to make more time to do this in 2009.

2) Respond to More Comments on louisgray.com

Some days I do this well, and other days, not really well at all. A while ago, I talked about whether comments on blog posts were conversation, or just replies, and I find too often I lean toward the latter. Disqus makes it super-easy to blast through comments and respond via e-mail, so I should do a better job of being engaged with the best audience on the Web in 2009.

3) Be More Interactive On Twitter

There's no one right way to use Twitter, as we mentioned earlier today, but I'm pretty sure the way I use it isn't perfect. I signed up to Twitter in early 2008 after being, for me anyway, a longtime holdout. It's likely that more than half of my Twitter posts are simply announcing new blog posts here, and I could do a better job of listening and engaging than simply broadcasting in 2009.

4) Spend Less Time on a Few Sites, and More Time on Many Sites

Being visible and active on social networks that have similar capabilities, like FriendFeed, Socialmedian and Strands, is hard. It's no secret that there is a tendency to pick one or two places to build up a community and leave the others dry, and in 2008, I overweighted FriendFeed for sure. It makes sense that maybe I should dial back a bit on FriendFeed and spend more time in far-flung places in 2009.

5) Have More Time for In-Depth Reviews

At the beginning of the year, I feel I did a fairly good job of having the time to invest in fully reviewing new sites and services, to explain their every feature. From Toluu to ReadBurner to Feedly and Assetbar, it was not uncommon to show you every nook and cranny of a new site, so you could join it as an expert. But in the second half of the year, especially after the arrival of Matthew and Sarah, this time comparatively evaporated, making my reviews less detailed. I still try to do a good overview of new sites and iPhone applications, for example, but it'd be good to feel sharp about these reviews again in 2009.

6) Follow Up On Sites and Services After Their Launch

I want to avoid being a "hit and run" blogger, as I put it the other day, announcing something and then only covering them again if they had something major. Doing that, I feel, makes you a tertiary part of the story, and certainly not an embedded expert. I'd like to look back on the many different services that have either debuted here or been covered, and see how they have progressed in 2009.

7) Attend More Industry Conferences and Panels

Given blogging and the social media space is not my full-time job, I can't exactly say attending all the different events in the space is something that makes sense for my career or pocketbook. But I did get to attend Web 2.0 Expo in the Spring, and BlogWorld Expo in the fall, and enjoyed meeting many of the people with whom I'd only engaged online. I would like to make more time to see the industry mingle and participate in 2009.

8) Participate More Visiblity on Conferences and Panels

I've been lucky to learn that a panel I'll be participating in was accepted for the South By Southwest conference (SXSW) this upcoming Spring. This follows the panel I participated in with Chris Heuer and Tom Foremski, and a pair of panels and BlogWorld Expo this fall. As the blog has gained visibility, opportunities are making themselves available, and I would like to be less of a wallflower and more active in 2009.

9) Be More Active on Podcasts, Videoconferencing

Having blogged on the site for three full years now, showing I can put a blog post together and cover a story, or participate in social media is not a surprise. I also had the opportunity to participate in the Elite Tech News podcast earlier this year when it was more regular, and the ReadBurner podcast through the year. I think it would be fun to get the opportunity to showcase new entrepreneurs, bloggers and services using audio and video in 2009.

10) Highlight More Bloggers and Entrepreneurs

In 2008, one of the major focuses I had was to bring to light new bloggers that had previously toiled in obscurity. By launching the series of five new blogs each month, by bringing on a stable of talented writers and keeping a focus on startups and the people behind those services, we played a role in making people more known by the end of the year than the beginning. I don't want to lose momentum on this, and keep bringing new people to the fore in 2009.

These ten items are on my list because I believe, in combination, they will help my understanding of technology, the industry, and the people better. It will help me have a more rounded tech experience without being too focused on niche topics and insulated. 2008 saw some strides in many of these areas, but I know I need to step up my game in 2009, and I look forward to the challenge.

Blog in the Dark Much?

Just before 7:30 this evening, as we were putting the twins down to sleep, the lights fluttered and went out. They whirred to life again, twice, but soon dropped again, and we've pretty much been in the dark for the better part of two hours. No TV. No WiFi. Not even the background noises of the refrigerator and heater. With temperatures in the low 40s outside, our home is cooling, and we've unpacked the flashlights and candles we could find.

Did you know you can combine a C battery and a D battery in a flashlight, and it will still work? By necessity, I found out tonight that it does.

Preferring to be constantly connected, my iPhone 3G is keeping me sane. The laptops are fairly useless, but not my ubergadget. It still lets me post updates to Twitter and FriendFeed, browse bookmarks, and read e-mail. Nobody told it to shut down, after all.

Losing power is really no big deal, for the short term. Everyone is safe, and if this goes longer, we could pluck our twins from the cooling crib, and warm them up ourselves. But it's got me thinking about being better prepared for something bigger. It's now clear we need more batteries. And the whole hubbub about Twitter being a good news hub during emergencies doesn't hold too well if you lack power. And it doesn't translate well to the small screen. If a neighbor has discovered the source or reach of this outage, I haven't seen it. My network is too diverse and too noisy to get data on local happenings.

So for now, we're a little disconnected. It's dark. It's getting colder. And we don't have answers. I'm lucky to have the iPhone 3G around, but that aside, the infrastructure holding our power and Web together looks pretty flaky - even in Sunnyvale, smack dab in Silicon Valley proper.

Update: Power was restored shortly after 10 p.m., having been out for just under three hours. No cause has yet been determined.

Every Night, I Sleep Next to My iPhone

Young boys dreaming of becoming world-class baseball players may sleep with their mitts under the mattress, hoping to break them into playing condition. Adults with major security concerns may instead sleep near a weapon, by their bed or even under the pillow. For me, it's my Phone that is my bedside companion. And it has just about as much to do with being a dad as it does with being a geek. And heck, if there were a security concern at any time, maybe it could double as a thrown projectile in a pinch...

As the father of five month old twins, waking up in the middle of the night is commonplace. While Matthew and Sarah have gotten a lot better recently about going to bed on a regular schedule and sleeping through the night, there are nights when things go completely awry, and my wife or I find ourselves up at 2, 4 or 5 a.m. So rather than sit idly, holding a bottle, and trying not to keel over from fatigue, I have been reaching for the iPhone and catching up on e-mail and the Web instead.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone without a built-in keyboard or stylus, many thought the decision daft. But one beneficial byproduct of the iPhone's streamlined interface is that it is incredibly functional, even if held in one hand. I can tap on Safari to launch the Web browser, and tap again to hit frequent bookmarks. I can tap to read e-mail and delete messages. While I won't be typing out long e-mails or making blog comments in the middle of the night, I am catching up when others are sleeping. Even if we are able to get the kids back to sleep and I end up hitting snooze on the alarm through 7 or 8 on some weekdays, there's a good chance I've already caught up and read the night's activity - seeing who has found me on the various social networks, who has left Disqus comments, and if anything major has impacted world news.

So if you're in a different time zone than I am and you see some "likes" on FriendFeed or Google Reader shares that seem out of place or come in what had otherwise been a quiet time, you can bet this is what's happening.

The kids are in bed now, and have been since 9 p.m., thank goodness, but I know that won't last. When I finally power down and try to get some sleep, the last thing I'll do before turning off the light is put the iPhone down where it's easy to reach, and make sure it has enough power to let me catch up overnight.

Mint.com Says I'll Be Bankrupt In Sixty Days At This Pace

When Mint.com first integrated the tracking of investments alongside bank records and credit cards this May, I was really excited to have a one-stop destination to see all my activity. But now, my weekly e-mails coming from the site are nothing short of a cross between a thrill ride and horror film, as one line stares me in the face: TOTAL. And peeking at the last three weeks' worth of updates shows that if I were to lose the average amount of money I lost each of the last three updates, my net worth would hit zero sometime in January of 2009. (Not on a percentage basis, but on an absolute value basis)

While I don't believe every stock I own will hit zero, and that I will have emptied all of my accounts, taking on more credit card bills than my actual assets, what was once trivial is eye-opening. While many say the smartest thing to do during this trying time is to not look at all, for me it's like a horrible accident on the highway. You can't help but slow down and take a peek. But unlike most of those accidents, there's actually more blood than expected.


My Holdings Are a Complete Disaster this Year (FriendFeed Discussion)
After a mild Spring and Summer that had my investments slightly trending downward, we all know what happened next - a massive cratering that has seen nearly everybody's financial situation turned upside down. 401ks and mutual funds that used to be stable and trusted are actually performing worse than the very worst individual stocks I've picked. One of the funds I am in dropped 24 percent last week, and another fell by more than 17 percent.

In six months, names that used to have the word "Trusted" next to their name are anything but. Fidelity. Citibank. Washington Mutual? Lehman? And yes, we know other companies in the news were less safe - General Motors, Sirius, eTrade itself... but as my own holdings are plummeting, it seems there is no safe place to turn, no "safe" investment to hold the money until things improve, be it in six months, two years, or more. Forget about Web 2.0 companies being shaky. Everybody's shaky.

For me personally, in years past, in the occasional case where I've needed to spend more money than I've had in my Wells Fargo Account, whether it be to pay year-end tithing for church, or to pay taxes, I've always known I can dip into my eTrade account and move money around as a backup. Now, that safety net has been eroded to the point I don't know that I can do that if I need to. I don't believe I'm going bankrupt, whether Mint.com thinks so or not, but unless something changes soon, we're definitely going to be putting off purchases, getting more frugal and settling for something less than we really want a whole lot more often.

And maybe I won't be logging into Mint.com all that often just to prove how bad things are.

When Mom's Away, Dad and Twins Play

My wife is in the middle of crunch time to complete a massive paper for her Masters' Degree program in World History. With her facing a 30-page submission due in the middle of this upcoming week, I've been pulling extra time covering Matthew and Sarah, including virtually all of the last 30 hours or so. Not that I mind all that much, as it's afforded me the opportunity to get more pictures on the record, post some short videos to YouTube and sync up with SmugMug. And while the most ardent followers on FriendFeed (and Twitter or Facebook) have seen much of the content already, I thought I'd share some of it here as well, retaining some of the personal nature of this blog, even as we've swayed heavily toward tech, and you've seen new writers crop up.

As not everyone is as digital as we are, we've had requests from the extended family for more formal photos of the twins, so they can share them in Holiday letters and such. But when everything is digital, it's hard to explain to my grandmother just why there's no such thing as a negative any more. So... we trucked off to J.C. Penney's last Saturday and got the twins photographed in studio. As most parents will no doubt tell you, they were worst behaved when we needed them to be good, and were smiling most just five minutes after we left. In between the cries and complaints, the team managed to snag some pretty good photos. One is below, and all are uploaded to SmugMug.


Sarah and Matthew from the Recent Photo Shoot
As Matthew and Sarah get bigger, approaching five months, they have filled out quite a bit, and are no longer needing to be constantly held. This affords for more "tummy time" and they are now interacting more with one another, even if it is just a quick poke or stare.

Their growth also affords us the opportunity to try out new toys. My favorite (and theirs) is a new jumper to bounce in our doorway. Padded with blankets, due to their small size, both Matthew and Sarah have spent some good time in the jumper, bouncing to and fro, and expending energy until they tire out and beg for food.


Matthew in the Jumpy Swing
As has been true since their very birth, their growth is being chronicled and shared with you. Some might fear for safety and privacy, but we're knowing that transparency and openness is the way to go. Kay Ballard even called it "Family 2.0". All I can say is that as we got two kids at once, maybe it's fitting.


Sarah in the Jumpy Swing
To see all our baby videos, check out our YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/asypta.

Web 2.0 and the 21st Century Gypsies

By Mona Nomura of Pixel Bits (FriendFeed/Twitter)


I contemplated sharing this, since 1) it's quite embarrassing and 2) I'm a private person, but the past few days have been so bizarre, I just had to share.

Short version: I'm a hobo. Long version: I was moving out of my old place, and into a long term sublet November 6th, while I took time to search for "the perfect apartment". The subletee backed out last minute, my old place found a new roommate, a friend of mine agreed to let me crash last minute, but his new girlfriend decides to fly in to surprise him, so I had to leave, STAT. To top it off, my credit cards are in transit, so hotels were out of the question, which led to well... Hobo status.

Enter Web 2.0.

When my friend told me I needed to find another place to crash STAT, my first instinct was Craigslist. He saw me browsing and said: "Are you insane? Craigslist is full of freaks. Go to couchsurfing.com." and couldn't believe what I saw. From their site:

What is the CouchSurfing mission?
When we incorporated CouchSurfing International, Inc. as a non-profit, we filed our official mission statement as:: "CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding."
-- via couchsurfing.com's FAQ

Basically, couchsurfing.com is a network of 21st Century Gypsies.
It's a site filled with travelers and people who host - world wide. It's not about finding a place to crash, but connecting people and not as dangerous as it sounds. Participants:

1. Create extensive, detailed profiles.
   
2. Engaging in local activities, discussion groups, chats, are the norm.

There are several precautionary measures to ensure a person is not a crazy.

Call me insane, but desperate times calls for desperate measures, and I sent out a 911 message and found someone willing to put me up for a night, while I exhausted options, looking for a new sublet. The experience? Interesting to say the least. I met a nice young gentleman from Spain, new to San Francisco, and very very single. Don't get me wrong, he was far from creepy, educated, and well mannered. I chose to take this gentleman's offer, since my request was extremely short notice and I jumped on the first person that responded.

It's been a few days since signing up and posting the 911 message, but the community is still getting back to me. Couples, singles, females, males, groups... I'm really amazed at people's hospitality. Granted, this site is not for everyone, but a great networking tool for students, avid backpackers, and budget travelers.

If it weren't for this predicament, I would've never found this site, got to see a different element of Social Networking, and thought it would be neat to share.

Now please excuse me, I'm going to try and sign these folks up to Twitter and FriendFeed.

Read more by Mona Nomura at Pixel Bits

Event Calendar: Panel on Emerging Media (November 11th)

For those of you located in the San Francisco Bay Area, you may want to check out an interactive discussion coming this next week, presented by PR Newswire, titled "Focus on Emerging Media - Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going".

Chris Heuer, Social Media Strategist at Social Media LLC, Tom Foremski, Editor of SiliconValleyWatcher.com and I will be participating on a panel, and it would be great to have you in attendance, so long as you sign up by Friday, November 7th.

Date:
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Breakfast and Registration: 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Presentation: 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Location:
Hyatt Regency Santa Clara
Bayshore Room
5101 Great America Pkwy
Santa Clara, CA 95054

Description:
Communications professionals have more opportunities than ever before to reach target audiences in the communities in which they congregate, but the trick is knowing what tools will help you reach these audiences and how to engage them once you've made contact. This interactive discussion, led by PR Newswire's Director of Emerging Media Michael Pranikoff, will explore the new tools and technologies, and how to best utilize them to communicate an organization's message to its intended audiences.

Want to Attend?
Sign up before November 7th here.

See you there!

Forget the Bradley Effect. What About the "Get Off My Phone" Effect?

To say that Tuesday's election is long-awaited is a massive understatement. It's been called historic by most, and otherwise labeled the most important election in our generation by the many who take into account the controversial last few years, our economic struggles and continued challenges abroad. And while Democratic candidate Barack Obama is largely expected to end the day with enough electoral votes to ensure his capturing the White House, some are concerned the "Bradley Effect", a phenomenon showing voters are less likely to vote for a minority when in the booth in private than they professed to be when surveyed in public, will have enough impact to knock him off the pedestal. But aside from the presidential election, how many of us have lied on a survey, just to politely get it over with? I know I have, including multiple times this evening, just to get the pollster off the phone.

When a political operative somehow manages to get through our Caller ID and gets me on the line, the fastest way to get the call completed is to agree to everything. If I'm not in the "hanging up on them" mood, I always agree to every single thing they're proposing. Yes, I'll vote for that guy. Of course I am in favor of your proposition and measure. "In fact, my wife and I already voted by mail!", I told one hapless gentleman a few hours ago, much to his delight.

My underhanded evasiveness no doubt gets a checkmark on his clipboard, and with one stroke, he and his backers can put two more votes on the board, as they try to rally enough last minute support to push their person and their measures over the top. But to be honest, most of the time, I couldn't tell you one person from another, especially in the local races, and will be doing my research online.

So how often is this happening? Are pollsters around the country, and at the local levels, finding overwhelming support for just about every bill, only to see tomorrow's election results be swung the opposite way? As much as the political pundits may wonder if America is ready to have an African-American president after all, I wonder about the telemarketers hitting their numbers and wondering why things didn't actually go their way.

Don't worry about me. Tomorrow, I'll vote. And I am sure on how I'm voting for just about everything, before some last-minute cramming tonight, but if you called my house this evening, sorry if I misled you. It won't be the last time.

Today Marks Ten Years Working In Silicon Valley

On October 25th, 1998, during my senior year at UC Berkeley, I started my first job in Silicon Valley, as an eCommerce Analyst for Internet Valley, a small startup focused on search engine optimization, technology trends and eCommerce. Today marks the tenth anniversary of that first day, making me one of those people who can sit around the table and claim a decade's worth of experience. Though my role has changed quite a bit from the first time I sat down for work in Burlingame, California, growing to take on traditional outbound marketing roles, including public relations and demand generation, the initial journey is worth commemorating.

As my senior year at Berkeley commenced, I knew I would need an off-campus job to help pay for rent and books, having left my position with the school newspaper, where I was Online Editor and a news reporter.

Not entirely sure what I wanted to do, I drafted two versions of my resume - one to be a journalist, and the other, to be a Webmaster. The journalist piece I sent to places like the Mercury News and MacWeek, and the one for being a Webmaster went just about anywhere I thought made sense, provided it was close enough to Berkeley, and offered flexibility that let me finish out my coursework and get the dual degree in Mass Communications and Political Science.

It being 1998, it was no surprise the Webmaster position found the most traction. That Internet Valley took a chance on me, an unproven kid at the age of 21, without a formal degree, helped lay the groundwork for my making a home in Silicon Valley and starting on a track toward a career that later encompassed Marketing. To give you an idea of how things have changed just in the last ten years, here's an excerpt from a note home to my dad, titled, "First day of work":

The company has ordered a Micron PC for me at work, and while it is a Windows 98/NT machine, it has some strong specs, such as: PentiumII 400 MHz processor, 64 MB RAM, 6.4GB of hard disk space, a 32x CD-ROM, and built-in Zip Drive.

That's right. In 1998, 6.4 GB of space and 64 MB of RAM was considered "strong specs".

I had interviewed at Internet Valley on October 13th of 1998, somehow getting from Berkeley to Burlingame without a car, using a combination of public transportation and my own two feet. And interestingly, my initial impressions of the Internet Valley site, and its methodology, provided some interesting hints for the way the future Web would be consumed.

From a previous e-mail, after 2 a.m. on October 14th of 1998:

(My boss) said that when he organized the site, he had done it with the intent of separating from print media, instead focusing on users who do not "read" documents, but "scroll" them. The typical Web site containing basic text was not to be found. The site instead contains words in a variety of colors, font sizes and heavy use of the bold tag. Some might call it ugly. ... He laughed about how he had dropped half of his age in a week if the letters were to be believed. But when scrolling down the site, a user can have their attention caught by the unorthodox methods, and will stop to read. Otherwise the words highlighted will give an idea of what the topic was being covered.

While the site itself was tough to digest, it brings to mind the way many of us consume news now, through a "river of noise", or scanning RSS rather than reading in full.

The stay at Internet Valley was not all that long, as the seed investor would have preferred revenue more quickly, but I managed to stay on with their sister company, 3Cube, reporting to the team's new vice president of Marketing.

Working at 3Cube during the dotcom boom, and eventually, through the bust, set the stage for how I approached business. Whether in operations, engineering or marketing, the team worked late, and was focused on doing what at times seemed to be super-human work, as we could ask a pair of coders to do what had taken a team of dozens at a competitor more time. And at age 22, I was responsible for running the Web site, and much of the copy, including FAQ's for these new products, even as I found myself sitting at the table with people who had been in the software industry since the time I was born.

As a young employee at both companies, and where I work now, I often found myself intimidated by my colleagues' experience and history. When they could talk in decades, I could merely talk in months, or maybe a year or two. With time, this has changed, of course, as I took on more responsibilities, including direct reports, gained experience, and have found myself at a place where many employees are younger than myself.

After the dotcom bust, I worked through the 2001-03 recession, and came out the other end with more knowledge on how to operate when times were lean. It looks like we may have that opportunity again, with the global markets being tossed to and fro. But even as we see our day to day challenges, or try and hit milestones that lie directly ahead, I can do so knowing that, after ten years of trying to make a difference, it's me who has a decade's experience in the Valley, the first of what should be a handful. I can't even imagine trying to work outside of the Valley. It's all I know, and all I want to know. Here's to thirty more years.

My Kids' Early Lives Are Already Entwined In Social Media

So far, I've held off on doing the silly thing, signing up my 4-month old twins, Matthew and Sarah, with user names to popular Web services, even though others thought I would. I haven't purchased them domain names, dedicated servers, or purchased them their own digital devices - yet.

This is because I expect by the time they're ready to use them that many of the brands will have changed, and because to have yet another login (or two) would be too tempting, and I'd find myself tweeting as an infant, and that would be completely silly. Also, who knows what kind of user names these kids will want once they've realized they have a choice? Surely not the fuddy-duddy version I'm bound to select.

In March, I said loudly, Our Unborn Kids Will Wear Your Web 2.0 Schwag. And while they're still small, and haven't grown into everything, they're doing their best. (Not that they wouldn't mind more logo clothes - e-mail me if you're interested.)

But, consider the following, all of which are true:

• FriendFeed co-founder Paul Buchheit and his wife knew we were pregnant before my family did.
• I posted the announcement that we were pregnant to the blog, before telling many family members.
• Travis Parsons of Browzmi was the first person I told that we were going into labor, and I told him via Facebook.
• The labor process was posted to both Twitter and FriendFeed overnight and into the day.
• When Matthew and Sarah were born, I was wearing a Disqus shirt.
• Matthew wore a newborn Google onesie when only two days old.
• Matthew was hired, and subsequently, fired, by Allen Stern at CenterNetworks.
• Matthew has been featured in his Strands onesie on the Strands blog.
• A YouTube video screenshot featuring Sarah was posted to CNET last Friday.
• Both kids have been over-exposed on FriendFeed, having their pictures posted frequently.

All this has happened before the pair have learned to crawl, talk, read, or walk. But they're growing up in front of laptop screens, they've been pictured with the iPhone, and have attended Silicon Valley gatherings. Sarah met Loic Lemeur of Seesmic, and both met Drew Olanoff of Strands and MG Siegler of VentureBeat.


Matthew Goes LOLCat for Strands
Whether they realize it or not, as social media becomes more intertwined with every aspect of our lives, they too have become intertwined with social media.


Sarah Gets Chatty Last Thursday On YouTube
Today, Matthew and Sarah turn four months old, so they are effectively 1/3 years old. While I've gone light in terms of dousing the blog with their pictures, you can stay updated in a few places:

Internal FriendFeed postings on my feed:
http://friendfeed.com/louisgray?service=internal

Our SmugMug page (needs updating):
http://louisgray.smugmug.com/

Our YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=asypta

What's Up With All the Guest Posts?

Warning: Some Internal Navel Gazing Ahead

Over the last three months, regular visitors to the site may have noticed a good number of posts to the blog that weren't from me. In fact, starting on July 8th, of the 175 new stories posted to the site, 34 have been from guest posters, representing approximately one of every five new entries, with me covering the other eighty percent. These 34 items have been submitted by a number of diverse writers, each of whom brings their own background and expertise to the table.

So what's going on?

Given the proximity of the first guest post, from Cyndy Aleo-Carreira, on July 8th, to Matthew and Sarah being born, on June 20th, some have thought the guest posts were the equivalent of bringing new parents food, to help during the busy times. Others have hypothesized that this is the first step in a plan for world domination, as I try to catapult the site into the realm of GigaOM, ReadWriteWeb or other big-name brand sites.

But the truth is somewhere in between.

The visibility of louisgray.com, thanks to consistent posting and the increased activity on some of the social sites where I participate, grew more than I expected in the first half of this year. I recognize that the subscriber base here is a tad higher than that for other great writers I respect, and I thought it would be a win-win to bring these voices to a new audience, while also making the site a more trusted, consistently updated source for news and commentary.

So in July, after trading e-mails with Cyndy, I asked her, and later, a few others, to contribute, as they wanted. I set no criteria on their subject matter, frequency or length, and I've been very lucky to see many of them really step up and provide their very best work here, outdoing my efforts a number of times. The result, I believe, is a more diverse set of opinions, increased engagement, and an increased profile for those participating. I have also made the choice to stop calling my partners in crime "guests". They have the full keys and are active writers in their own right.

In this quota-free environment, you can see some have grasped the opportunity and posted frequently. Others saw it as a one-off and went back to their own sites. But all still have the open door policy. In fact, it's my hope they continue to feel comfortable here. And, if you think you have something to contribute, and would be interested in adding your voice to the mix, let me know. Just remember this is all for fun and excitement around tech, so there are no ads, and therefore, no revenue. So send me an e-mail to louisgray@mac.com if you're up for it.

I've taken the time to highlight the guest posts below in case you missed any. I'm sure you'll find a topic you like. And, don't worry, I'll still keep posting here. But maybe by the next update, I'll be pushing out less than 80 percent of all new stories.

---

Charlie Anzman

• Google at 10 - a Decade of Innovation - But Challenges Ahead

Colin Walker

• Is There A Way Back From Free?

Corvida Raven

• The Importance of Setting Goals To Grow Your Network

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira

• Late-Night Seesmic Desperation Yields Results
  
• Walking the SEO Balance Beam
  
• The Hubris of the Twitterati and Twitterati Wannabes
  
• Everybody Wants to be Internet Famous
  
• For My Next Trick, Watch This Comment Disappear!
  
• Selling Ourselves Short as Women In Tech

Hutch Carpenter

• Bloggers' Interactions With Readers Decrease With Prominence

(Jeff)isageek

• Trimming the Fat On RSS Feeds - You Could Lose 99%!

Jesse Stay

• To Blog, or Not to Blog - That is the Question
  
• Identi.ca Launches SMS Support, Sort Of.
  
• New Facebook Design Confuses Many, Obscures Features
  
• Exposed: Blogging's Secret Next Generation
  
• Identi.ca and the Power of Microbranded Communities
  
• Twitter Implements Threaded Comments, Sort Of
  
• The Following/Listening Ratio - Are Your Followers Actually Listening?
  
• The iPhone's Missing Link: User Profiles
  
• OpenMicroBlogger Shows Steady Growth in First Month
  
• With Facebook Connect, Google Has Unique Integration Opportunity

Mark Dykeman

• Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience
  
• Netvouz – A Quality One Man Bookmarking Show
  

Mona Nomura

• Top Resources to Help Stay Informed In a Crazy World
  
• Web 2.0 and Democratization of Data - Say What?
  
• Microblog Megaphoning: Informative or Irresponsible?
  
• Microsoft and RIM? I Don't Think So.
  
• Silicon Valleywood?
  

Phil Glockner

• What Google Chrome Gets Right
  
• Google's Suggest And Search: Never Completely Private
  
• iPhone Application Review: Mobile Fotos

Rob Diana

• Throttled By the Twitter API? Try Something New.
  
• Can Microblogs Just Talk To Each Other?
  
• Where You Get Your Tech News Shapes Your Tech Views
  
• Is There Less Funding Or Are Startups Just Cheaper?
  
• Increased Activity Streams Boost Social Median's Chances
  

Robert Seidman

• Google Has Leveled the Internet Playing Field
  
• Statistics Are Your Friend, Even When They're Bad

Podcast: Interview With Talk Social News on Innovation, Startups

Sunday morning, I had the opportunity to participate in a podcast with Wayne Sutton and Kipp Bodnarf for their Talk Social News broadcast. During the discussion, we talked about how the economy could possibly be impacting Web companies, whether or not living in Silicon Valley has its benefits for tech bloggers, how to use multiple social media networks, and to still find time to take care of family and work obligations. The conversation also touched on what could be coming next in terms of social media innovations, and the accumulating pressure to perform as you become more visible. The duo also, less successfully, tried to get me to pick which companies might be in real trouble during a global economy downturn.

As I find it's good practice to listen to podcasts you participated in, to learn from them and do better in the next round, I found myself listening to the Talk Social News recording yesterday, while on the plane from San Jose to Texas, where I am staying through Thursday. Luckily, I still found the discussion interesting as an audience member.

You can download the podcast here or read their recap on their Web site. The interview with me starts about 10 minutes in after Wayne and Kipp do some upfront work.

After you've listened, let me know if you think my opinions were wrong or off base. And we're always looking for feedback. On the next podcast, what do you think I should try and get discussed?

A Recession's Impact: Lower Expectations Across the Board

The stock market is a disaster.

Banks are going under, and massive financial institutions are being bailed out. Companies are announcing hiring freezes and layoffs. And just about everybody has less money now than they did last month, or the one before that. While many of these perceived losses are quantifiable (on paper), more widespread are the losses that cannot be quantified, as people and companies cast off their optimism, and exchange it with a dark reality.

Those of us who made it through the last recession have seen this play out before, and others, a few times as bust follows boom, and back again. This time, the bust just might be deeper, and its impact further felt. I made a handy chart to see how people here in the Silicon Valley might be adjusting their expectations - from personal goals to family, possessions and career. In every aspect, I think it's safe to say that many are choosing door number three.


How a market changes one's goals - in chart form...
(Feel free to reuse the image on your blog)
With all the bad news out there, have you already made some of these choices? I'll likely be keeping my 1998 Mercury Tracer going just a bit longer, and despite the twins, I don't see us moving out any time soon, as demand for housing has cratered. Stocks I held just last week are worth 80 cents on the dollar today, and it could be time to buckle down unless things turn around soon.

Is There a Long Tail to My iTunes Library? The Stats Tell All.

Having long ago passed the point where I could realistically listen to all my music on my iTunes library in a matter of days or weeks, I set up a number of smart playlists that help me to rediscover old music, sorted by the most recent time I played the song. (See: iTunes: Old Music Is New Again from March of 2006) By solely listening to this constantly re-generating playlist, I find myself avoiding repeated songs, and am constantly finding great music that's fallen by the wayside.

But as this playist has continued to expand, and I can't keep up, despite avoiding new purchases, for the most part, we now can further break down the list to see if there is a long tail to iTunes. Am I getting to every song, and what percentage of my songs have been listened to over specific time periods? Also, given I only have a finite amount of time, how many of the songs have been listened to only once?

Let's find out.

First: As of Midnight PDT on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008:
There are 5,773 items, representing 23.7 days and 35.42 GB.


My iTunes Library, Songs Sorted by Last Played
Of these nearly 6,000 songs, I've managed to get to over 1,000 of them in the last three months, and an additional 500 or so in the prior three months (with no overlaps). But that means more than 4,000 songs have not been touched in the last six months, representing more than two and a half weeks of solid music.

While I've tried to get to every song with some regularity, there's still almost a day's worth of music that hasn't been listened to in more than 10 months.


My iTunes Library, Songs Sorted by Play Count
Additionally, of the almost 6,000 songs in my iTunes library, about 1,000 songs have been listened to greater than 12 times each since iTunes started counting. This compares with about 3,200 songs that have been listened to between 5 and 12 times apiece, and more than 1,500 that have been listened to between 1 and 4 times.


Using a small utility called iTunes Timer, the accumulative play totals for the songs in my library suggest that I've listened to iTunes for more than 195 days and 2 hours. Surely, if I stay connected to the laptop or my iPhone with some good regularity, I can power through those songs I haven't heard in more than six months, or listen to those tracks that haven't gotten enough airplay. But realistically, I shouldn't be letting the statistics drive my listening habits. It's common for people to find their favorite songs and play them a whole lot more than those that don't quite strike their fancy. But with iTunes, and the power of Smart Playlists, I can actually dive in and find out. And to watch me try and catch up, check out my Last.fm page.

What do your iTunes stats show?

So, By "Overnight" You Mean Something Else Entirely?

It may seem trivial, but for me, the biggest disappointment of this year's Blog World Expo is that I didn't come fully prepared. Many of the peers I'm meeting for the first time are handing out fancy custom business cards with their blog URL, Twitter account, and other services, like LinkedIn or FriendFeed. Meanwhile, I'm left handing out my business cards from the office and having to explain the blog address or that my data can all be found online. And the blame squarely falls on my trusting an "overnight" prints service to do exactly what its name implied.

Early last week, knowing the event was coming, I made custom business cards from Moo.com, but quickly saw they weren't going to make it on time. So on the 17th, I went to OvernightPrints.com, and used a template I'd built several months ago. Their site said they would start printing as soon as 20 minutes after the order, and with overnight shipping, there'd be no doubt I'd have the cards by the 19th, when the show started, and when I had my first panel.

But... no. This is what "overnight" means to OvernightPrints.com.

September 17th: I make an order and get a confirmation.
September 18th: They print the business cards. (Allegedly)
September 19th: The cards ship from their headquarters.
September 20th: The cards arrive in Las Vegas.
September 21st: It's Sunday, so UPS is taking the day off.
September 22nd: The cards are expected to arrive.

That would be five days. Meanwhile, the Blog World Expo will have come and gone, ending today, and my cards will show up to the hotel, no doubt confusing the shipping and receiving department, as I'll be back in the Bay Area. And given the OvernightPrints.com cards are of lesser quality than those of Moo.com, I'll never need them, so they should just be destroyed. But it sure is frustrating.

You could argue that I should have been better prepared, and had them ready to go earlier, which is true, but I trusted what OvernightPrints.com said in that it would be "overnight" shipped on "next day air", and they would start almost immediately. Instead, I'm left talking around my cards that having nothing to do with the blog and my online presence. Silly, I know, but really annoying. If you're needing true overnight prints, I don't think I'd ever recommend this company.

Find Me at Blog World Expo This Weekend In Las Vegas

Even as the blog has gotten more visible through the last two years, I've largely stayed behind the scenes (or behind the monitor and keyboard). I haven't attended large industry events, or tried to make the story so much about me. I'd rather keep the highlights on the many services I enjoy and the people making the Web and technology better. But this weekend, the gravity pull from being requested to participate in two panels was too great, and you can now find me at the Blog World Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, from this afternoon through Sunday.

At the expo, I am participating on two panels, with esteemed peers, including Matt Dickman, Neil Vineberg, Brian Solis and Stowe Boyd, discussing changes in the blogosphere, and how microcommunities are impacting where we participate, share ideas, and communicate.

Panel One:
Micromedia: The Next Big, Small Thing:

Description: "This session shows marketers what the true power of services like Twitter, FriendFeed, Pownce, Flickr and Facebook have on a micro level. Also known as "micro blogging", micromedia has exploded with the growth of mobile technology and lets us look into the future of platform-agnostic marketing. Don't be left behind."

Time: Friday, Sept. 19, 2008: 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM, 222

Panel Two:
Are Bloggers Losing Control? The New World of Distributed Conversations:

Description: "With content spanning across social networks, miro communities, and media aggregators, comments, conversations, and responses are taking place on and around the original blog post. This panel will explore distributed conversations, fragmented expertise, and also the challenge of being everywhere - and whether or not it's not only necessary, but also feasible."

Time: Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008: 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM, 229

Outside of these panels, my schedule is not 100 percent set by any means. I've already started to hear from many online friends who I will be seeing for the first time, and look forward to finding many more, through seeing presentations, walking the exhibits floor, and through getting abused by e-mail and cell phone. If you're going to be attending, it'd be great to see you at either of these panels, or any other time. Please do reach out by phone at 408 646-2759 or by e-mail at louisgray@mac.com.

My BlogWorld Expo bio can also be found here.

Transparency, Disclosure and Opening Up the Kimono

On Wednesday, I was pleased to announce my beginning a new, formal, relationship with the ReadBurner team as an advisor, where I'll be looking to help provide guidance and strategy and be more of a colleague with the already-successful team, who is looking to make the site a one-stop destination to find the most popular content online, today starting with RSS feeds, and maybe tomorrow, much, much more. Who knows?

In advance of this announcement, I reached out to a pair of folks who I perceive to be competitors of ReadBurner, and told them exactly what the plan was - that I was going to be helping ReadBurner out, and that I wasn't going to be paid, but instead, would essentially have a small potential equity stake, just like any employee, advisor or board member at a private company. ReadBurner's success, essentially, could be my success as well, should the stars be aligned.

Crossing the chasm from a completely neutral party to a biased party, or at least having the perception of bias, isn't something I'm used to. My enthusiasm for ReadBurner, as well as my enthusiasm for FriendFeed, AssetBar, Social Median, Feedly, Ballhype and other services over the last few years, has been seen here, and in each case, it has been done so without compensation, or expectation of compensation. Now that this has changed in one specific example, it of course raises questions. Will competitors of ReadBurner ever talk to me again? Will other companies try and guess where ReadBurner is headed, and trusting me less, go a different route? Maybe they will, and that's a risk that's assumed.

Only hours after my first post did I get a question like this from one developer, asking if ReadBurner should be considered competition to their work, and should they "be careful about sharing things we're working on"? Well, in all truthfulness, you should always be careful about sharing pre-release content with anyone, to start with, and second, you should always think about whether that person will have pre-conceived biases, or will be abusing your trust. And it makes sense to protect your proprietary data.

With that said, over the last few years, I have tried to be as transparent as possible, and it is important to me to be trusted. I have never written a single post on this site for pay, or in exchange for goods. I've also tried to be reachable by anyone, occasionally to my detriment. My cell phone number and personal e-mail address have been on this blog since early 2007, and even in the footer of every RSS feed. In one example where I was concerned there could be a perception of bias, I told you when I won an iPhone from Social Median and asked you to judge me to see if I unequally gave praise to the site as a result. And I expect to keep telling you if I can be found in any way to be uneven in how I view a site, person or anything else.

In 2008, especially, I've worked with developers and entrepreneurs, getting early access to sites sometimes weeks or months ahead of their roll-out, and have done so without leaking their information early, and often, worked to provide informal QA to help get their product ready for announcement, with Feedly being the best example. As I said this evening in a fun ReadBurner podcast, if I can help make the products and services we use online better, then I've done my job. I often want these products to succeed, even if I'm not their target demographic and am more than happy to keep things close to the vest, and often offer advice for free. It's what I'd been doing with ReadBurner off and on before they asked for more of my time and make it official.

But truth be told, in the online space, sites that look completely different today could look similar tomorrow. The LOUD3R family of Web sites offers many different topic-driven news aggregators, as did the Ballhype/Showhype/Beltway Blips family, each of which I covered. SocialMedian, similarly, can offer an aggregation of news on the same topics, and sites like MyBlogLog, Fav.or.it and Technorati use topics to bring similar bloggers and posts together. In theory, so could FriendFeed, ReadBurner, Feedheads or RSSmeme. And each of the last few sites could be rejiggered to take on more horizontal plays like Google News or Techmeme.

Allen Stern of CenterNetworks, on the podcast, made it clear that if he were a competitor to ReadBurner, not only would he not want to share any information with me, but he recommended to us on the call that we should be especially careful, so no entrepreneur could claim we had stolen their ideas. Allen is a smart guy whose ideas I respect, and he's right. But you shouldn't expect that overnight I'm going to start saying ReadBurner every other word and talking smack about their competitors. And I've never received anything like a confidential roadmap from anybody - so that's not an issue.

To help with clarity, I am going to add details about the ReadBurner relationship to my "About" page, and I'm going to get even more transparent so that anybody who does have questions can get those answers. There is one more small company I've been helping in an advisory role since early this Spring, and soon, they will be public, so I can talk about it, and again, be transparent. But that's in a space I don't write about, so much of the above doesn't apply.

Since starting this site, I've very visibly eschewed advertising, and haven't been making any money for what I write or where I participate. Maybe working in a consultancy or advisory role to companies like ReadBurner is where I end up "monetizing the blog", even if that isn't my sole goal for being here. As previously mentioned, I enjoy the conversations and the camaraderie, and have been doing a lot of "advising" for free for a lot of different sites. That's why I wrote "10 Suggestions to Improve Google Reader" back in March of 2007, and offered "10 More Suggestions for LinkedIn" that same month, as well as 10 Suggestions for FriendFeed last December. That's why I asked What Is the Future Of MyBlogLog?. In none of those cases were my suggestions requested or compensated, and I hope to keep thinking out loud and offering advice for free.

My activity with ReadBurner, in actuality, will be very small, compared to everything else I'm doing. But if there's ever a chance where I could be seen as being biased, or needing to disclose that relationship, I will absolutely do so, and I both expect you to and want you to keep me honest - as I've tried to be so far. And if or when I screw up, call or e-mail. Transparency is the best policy.

I've Taken a New Advisory Role With ReadBurner

If you've been a long-time reader of this blog, you'll know that one of the most frequent topics I've discussed is that of RSS readers, and innovative tools to determine "hot" or most popular items - either on a broad measure, or by specific topic or vertical. One of the most fun stories to follow, for me, this year, was the stealth debut of ReadBurner, followed by its rapid ascension into visibility, its later changing hands and continued efforts to add new features and make it a standard for determining the best content across the Web.

As of today, I'll be taking a more direct role in helping the team at ReadBurner succeed, working with them in an advisory role, where I can spend a few hours each week talking strategy.

So what does this mean for the other companies in this space, who have played a crucial role in our coverage this year, such as RSSmeme, Feedheads, and LinkRiver? To me, it doesn't change a whole lot. I've made it clear that I really like this arena, and see that it has great potential, and I've maintained a good relationship with the developers at each site.

In fact, I reached out to both Mario Romero and Ben Golub in advance of this post to let them know of our making the ReadBurner affiliation more official, in case they felt I had a new conflict of interest, or would be treating them differently going forward. As I told both of them, I would absolutely love to keep being updated and spreading the word, but understand if they felt more competitive, and if any future coverage of either will need a formal disclosure of sorts.

So why ReadBurner? Because the team of Drew Olanoff, Adam Ostrow, Thomas Connors and Alexander Marktl has recognized the potential in a democratically-oriented site that can bring the day's top news to people, regardless of its source, or its topic. They are looking to springboard ReadBurner out of the hobby phase and help it grow. I'm hoping I can help, and I'm honored they extended the opportunity.

And in case you're curious, this doesn't impact my day job, which remains the same, as outlined on LinkedIn. But even if I can help the ReadBurner team in a small way, I'm excited to try. It's already been fun watching the site grow from its infancy earlier this year.

You can follow our efforts at http://www.readburner.com/. Looking forward to updating you with more, including on the ReadBurner podcast, tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific. (Watch the official blog.)

Ten Ways Having Twins Has Changed My Tech and Online Life

The one thing that change always promises to bring is more change. And bringing twins into our household has definitely had an impact - changing how we manage our time, our sleep, our travels, and our activities. Now that Matthew and Sarah are seven weeks old, and with my being back at work for three full weeks, we have something resembling a routine. While I had always kidded that adding to newborns to the family would be "mildly disruptive", there has certainly been an impact to what I've been able to do with tech, both online and offline, since they arrived.

1. Whatever I'm Doing Has to Be Able to Stop At Any Time

So far, I haven't been able to teach Matthew or Sarah how to use an alarm clock, or how to make requests using a pad or paper, let alone e-mail. This means that their best way of requesting attention is crying, and I, or my wife, have to be on alert at all times. This means, for example, that I can't participate in any online gaming, even if it's as simple as hearts or cribbage, because I'd never know when I'd have to bail, and therefore, concede. Whatever I'm doing has to have the ability to be paused, or closed, without impacting somebody else.

2. I'm Not Getting Nearly As Much Online Activity Done In the Morning

Prior to having kids, I could spend a good hour answering e-mail, reading feeds, and getting caught up on the social networks before getting ready to head into the office. Now, that option is clearly gone, as I'm more likely to be awakened by someone who is hungry or needs attention than by my alarm clock. That activity now usually has to take place once they're taken care of and I've driven to the office, leaving my poor wife behind to fend for herself with a pair of ungrateful infants.

3. Scheduling Time for Evening Conference Calls Is A Lot Harder

As I don't typically wait around for press releases to hit my in box to write a story, most of my posts about new technology comes from engaging with developers early, trading e-mail, chatting on Google Talk, or taking a phone call. Now, while my intentions may be to take a call and get updated, it's absolutely likely that call will land in the middle of my feeding somebody, or our phone call could be interrupted by crying. So far, Sarah and Matthew have made their voices heard to Travis Parsons of Browzmi, Eric Marcoullier of Gnip and ReadBurner's Drew Olanoff, to name a few.

4. My iPod Touch Usage Has Gone Way Up

With the addition of the iPod Touch's 2.0 software, the product became much more useful - due to the push e-mail capability, Exchange integration, and of course, all the new applications. But the iPod Touch also has another advantage - stealth use, and one-handed browsing. It's not uncommon these days to be flat on my back with a kid resting on my chest, or sitting up and holding a bottle. This effectively eliminates my use of the laptop, but a WiFi-connected iPod Touch is a great backup plan to read e-mail, browse FriendFeed, access Safari bookmarks, and update Twitter. An added bonus? I can turn off the sound, so using the keyboard is completely silent - again, totally unachievable on the laptop.

5. Backing Up My Data Is Now More Important Than Ever

Despite having much of my life online, I've never been all that great at backing it up. I used to back up my mail and personal docs, or have an archive of company data, on a previous-generation iPod, and also used Apple's Backup program that came with .Mac. But my false sense of security went away a few years ago, when I stupidly left my iPod in the seat pocket on a plane between Chicago and Baltimore, never getting it back. So that wasn't good. Also, as my primary storage space (my laptop) has gone through its share of bumps and bruises, including getting crushed in a rented convertible this last Spring Training, I know that's not 100% reliable. Over time, as I've moved from machine to machine, I've lost very little, but it's been known to happen.

That said, I've moved our family photos to SmugMug, relying on the cloud as a backup to my own local storage, I've posted some early videos to YouTube, and I'm looking seriously at Apple's Time Capsule for home storage backup, because if I lose photos and videos of Matthew and Sarah at this stage, I'll never again get the chance to retake them.

6. My Online Activity Is More Purpose-Based Than Time Wasting

Jeremy Toeman once commented on FriendFeed that my activity on the service after having kids would never again approach the level it was prior to having kids. And while in the first few weeks after Matthew and Sarah came, I kept the same pace, if not increasing it, returning to the office and having that time eat into my schedule has probably made his prophecy true. While I'm still reading the same number of RSS feeds in Google Reader, still keep the blog updated, and still scan FriendFeed, Social Median and Twitter, I'm likely engaging in less idle chit chat and arbitrary "liking", which makes my statistics lower than before.

7. I've Dusted Off the Camera In a Big Way

I don't pepper the blog with photos of myself or my wife all that often, as I've never been much of a photographer, and quite honestly, I want the blog to be more about what I'm observing and thinking than my daily doings. I've also kept my wife's visibility low for her privacy. As a high school teacher, she doesn't exactly want her nosy students knowing her every move. That said, the twins are a lot more photogenic than either of us, and so far, friends online have really eaten up the pictures, so I'm rarely too far from our camera. And after seven weeks, I finally got Matthew and Sarah on video, and posted to YouTube. Videos of them should get more prominent going forward.

8. The Online Social Circle Is Seeing Change

Whereas previously, I would consider single guys or newlyweds my peers, I'm having a lot more opportunity to share stories and jokes with Web-savvy moms and dads who are similarly managing their time. I'm now talking a lot more with parent pals like Cyndy Aleo-Carreira and Carla Thompson or Jesse Stay and Jeremy Neal. Even uber-blogger Robert Scoble and I are probably talking as much about kids' weights and behaviors as we are debating social network behavior.

9. Blog Posts Often Get Interrupted

While I can still, on occasion, sit down and power through a post in 20 minutes or so, it's now just as likely that it will take two or three stops at the laptop to get some of the longer ones done, especially if screenshots or reviews are needed. This means a lot of saving, re-reading what I had started, and posting when I can, not exactly when I wanted to. I've even told people who want stories embargoed, when I do go that route, to get me the data well ahead of time so I can plan better.

10. No More Leaving the Cell Phone In the Other Room

If you have young kids, you know that the last thing you want to do is wake them up after some serious effort to get them to bed. That means better management of potential noise is required. Now, I can no longer casually put my cell phone down, with my keys and wallet, and walk away. Instead, I need to cart it, and the handset for our landline, with me whenever I've got the kids, or if they are sleeping, to avoid prolonged ringing and unnecessary wake-ups.

I knew having kids would be more than "mildly disruptive", and any disruptions so far have been far outweighed by the many benefits of being a father, for sure. But I know that having crossed that chasm means that how I used to operate online is never going to be exactly the same. It should be fun to keep watching as Matthew and Sarah get to 6 months, a year, 2 years and beyond, to find out what activities stay, and which go. Change always begets more change, and I know more change is coming.

Stupid eTrade, Are You Trying to Bankrupt Me?

I've been a loyal eTrade customer since February of 2000, and during the height of their instabilities last fall, I actually went against the grain, moving my checking account to the service, away from Wells Fargo, and even flipping their stock a few times for short-term sales when many thought they were headed to zero. But that's not to say the relationship is perfect. Over the years, there have been occasional annoyances, and today, errors on their part make it look like I'm about to file for Chapter 11.

This morning, Rackspace went public, the first technology company to IPO in quite some time in what's been a quiet year. And while, so far, their debut hasn't been all that amazing, I did manage to get some shares through gaining early access via my eTrade account, a usual sign that the stock would be headed down and not up, given my spotty track record.

(See also: Top Eight Worst Stock Moves I Ever Made)

But the fact Rackspace hasn't gone through the roof isn't the issue. The bigger issue is that prior to 5 a.m. this morning, I not only received confirmation from eTrade that my bid was accepted, but I received confirmation six times in the space of two minutes. And checking in with my account online, eTrade, despite only allocating to me the shares I had requested, actually looks like it withdrew the total amount of the stock buy for each confirmation. This means that instead of being cash-positive in my brokerage account, I show a deficit of more than $36,000.


eTrade Confirmed I Received Shares. And Again. And Again!
While I tend to believe this will be sorted out without any intervention on my part, I'm sure that this "glitch" will impact my ability to make trades if I wanted to. Not only is the actual cash I believe I should have unavailable, but if I sold other stocks in the account, I wouldn't have that cash available for different trades, as it would undoubtedly look like it was being used to pay down my debt.


eTrade Tells Me I Owe Them Some Serious Dough
eTrade doesn't get to participate in IPOs all that often, and it looks like they haven't quite gotten the process down. I just hope I don't start getting notice after notice that my account is "on margin" or that I get locked out. It's happened before due to stupid clerical errors like this, and I'm not interested in playing that game again. So eTrade, please get your act together and give me my money back. Thanks!

Matthew's Story: From CenterNetworks' Future to Fired In A Month

Finding a writing position at a brand-name blog is hard to do, especially without having a significant resume, not to mention any references. So when Allen Stern of CenterNetworks offered my newborn son, Matthew, a position on his excellent blog, we of course struck at the deal. But in just a month, what at first seemed like a dream come true turned out to be a sordid tale of broken promises, unsafe working conditions and tears. A week after Stern publicly announced Matthew's firing, as a family, we've decided to tell our side of the story.

The fierce competition between East Coast and West Coast blogs these days is rivaling the old time feuds between East Coast and West Coast rappers. Based in New York, Stern has long been seeking the opportunity to open a Silicon Valley bureau, so this spring, when he learned we were expecting twins, he struck early, asking to sign up "whichever of the two kids was bigger". I naively accepted, not knowing that his request was due to the incredible stress that blogging and filing stories can be for a newborn.


Matthew Signed On to CenterNetworks In Days
Matthew and Sarah arrived on June 20th, he weighing a robust 5 pounds, and she, trailing at 4 pounds, 3 ounces. That made Matthew the candidate of record. The next four days were a whirlwind of deal-making, contracts being faxed from coast to coast, with little being given up on either side. Finally, the agreement completed, Matthew announced his signing, and was photographed with the world-famous CN sticker. The next day, Stern announced it to the world, and while he said "Of all the people I've hired over the years, this negotiation was the toughest," his listed demands were later proven to be a slap in the face.


Stern's Initial Set of Promises Included a New iPhone

But Stern Later Went Back On His Word

Over the next two weeks, Matthew made significant headway with CN, reaching out to Bay Area startups, reviewing alpha versions of Mac software and Web services, and even, somehow, transcribing quarterly conference calls. But while Stern publicly lauded his efforts in an update, the long hours, fatigue and strain were already becoming quite clear. As you can see from the follow-on post, Stern had openly reneged on the promised iPhone 3G, saying Matthew would get it "under no circumstances", despite it being promised in the initial agreement. Similarly, the promised crib with LCD panel and Wii Fit never materialized, which Stern attributed to "inventory shortages". Making matters worse, Stern would frequently call Matthew's home number at the start of East Coast business hours to talk strategy, despite it being only 5 a.m. Pacific.

The long hours and stress saw Matthew often falling asleep in front of his keyboard after filing a news story. He soon began to complain that he was unable to relax and casually visit his favorite sites, fearing an irate Stern would notice the gap in submissions and send yet another series of e-mails with even more assignments. And with every "like" or comment he placed on FriendFeed, Stern would just lose it - saying he was slacking off, or even worse, claiming he was manipulating activity on the site through creating hundreds of fake accounts. But it wasn't true, and try as Matthew would to explain he was just trying to catch up on the world outside of CenterNetworks, Stern wouldn't listen, ranting about how Mashable had scooped him on some new Facebook widget, or how ReadWriteWeb had gotten an exclusive look into a new AIR application that sent updates to Flickr and Twitter simultaneously, on Matthew's watch. The once promising job with significant career potential had spiraled into despair of inter-office politics and accusations that left Matthew depressed and unwilling to spend time with his sister or peers.


Matthew's Long Hours At CN Took Their Toll
It all came crashing down early last week, on July 21st. The first sign was when Matthew's CenterNetworks e-mail stopped working, and the daily shipment of Barnum and Bailey animal crackers didn't arrive. Then, two of the stories Matthew had filed were printed under Stern's byline, without his being mentioned as a contributing reporter. But Stern wouldn't take phone calls and Matthew was left to fend for himself. The next day, we realized what had happened. Stern, in a public missive, fired Matthew, without contacting him or myself, and continuing his rant about how Matthew was slacking off and creating FriendFeed accounts, accusations later proven untrue by FriendFeed interns Dan Hsaio and Ross Miller, who looked into the the service's logs following the allegations.


Stern's Hallucinations Fueled the Firing
Over the last eight days, as a family we've had to do a lot of soul-searching. Matthew, for one, swears he's had it with the blogging business, though it's not clear what line of profession he intends to take next. And if that weren't enough, on Monday, the long-promised Barney poster finally arrived, a stark reminder of one of the many unfulfilled promises by Stern and his crew. What should have been a case of spotting talent early, and helping to guide a young prodigy through the ranks instead was one that smacked of servitude, double-speaking and unhappiness. While we know we have a legal case against Stern and CenterNetworks proper over the unfulfilled iPhone, lack of proper advance notice of contract termination, and unfair child labor practices, we're going to swallow our pride and move on as a family. It's been hard, but we felt the right thing was to leave with our heads held high, without dragging this out through the morass that is the American judicial system.

So Pete "Peanut" Carreira, Stern may be whispering sweet nothings to you now and calling you a serious Seesmic star, but watch your back and protect yourself before what happened to Matthew happens to you as well.

The Gray Family Upgrades from Flickr to SmugMug

While SmugMug might not have the brand recognition of a Flickr, Shutterfly or Kodak's EasyShare Gallery, the photo and video sharing site has obtained a dedicated following of photographers who are serious about their work. The site has long received praise for its high-quality galleries, unlimited storage, security, and customization, and the company's small team of 30 employees has managed to be profitable since 2005, when many Web companies have been in the red, largely due to their not offering any free versions of their product. When Matthew and Sarah arrived on the scene, at first I was happy to upload the family photos to our free Flickr account, but the site's limitations, especially when it came to the total number of photos, and quality of those photos, made me think seriously about making the move to SmugMug.

Today, I'm happy to say we made the leap. The first batch of almost 150 photos, starting with my wife's very pregnant belly and taking us to the present day, including the first five weeks of Matthew and Sarah, can now be found at http://louisgray.smugmug.com/, where I plan to be maintaining our online photo presence from here on out.


Editing Images In SmugMug Is a Snap
While I still haven't made the leap to buying a professional camera (on the to-do list), I delved into my iPhoto, and exported the original photos taken since late June. All told, the 145 images totaled about 125 megabytes of space, no small chunk. But SmugMug's easy to use interface let me select the folder, and hit upload, and not too long after, I was seeing highest quality photography on the site.

With the photos on the site, I have a tremendous amount of flexibility for manipulating the images - far more than I could with the free version of Flickr. With Flickr, I could edit the title, the tags and the description of photos, but SmugMug lets me rotate the images, add captions, add a watermark, if I wanted, crop photos, and make color effects - for example, displaying the images in black and white, sepia tone or the negative, which can be flat out spooky. I found myself making a lot of bulk changes, rotating kids from laying on their side to facing straight up, and readying the pictures for display.



A Clip From a SmugMug Slideshow
Given I'm not the primary audience for these photographs, how friends and family can see our kids and their updates was key to the switch. First, you can do full-screen slideshows in SmugMug at very high quality, letting you pan right to left through the collection, starting with any photo, second, the thumbnails sent to FriendFeed are significantly better than those from Flickr, and thirdly, any of my relatives can select any number of photos to buy or print out in their preferred size. Now, instead of my relatives begging for prints, they can go off and make their own, assuming I have a good enough shot.


See How SmugMug Appears on FriendFeed
I've been watching SmugMug from the sidelines for the last few years. I've seen the company's great engagement with the blogging community. Don MacAskill has been a strong public face for the company, keeping friends appraised to service enhancements, community activities and any issues that may come up. The company has been very vocal about their support for "the cloud", and has even debuted a new application for the iPhone, called SmugShot. Once I finally get my iPhone, you know I'll be downloading it.

I don't plan to turn this site into a full-time mommyblog just yet, but if you want to see how Matthew and Sarah are progressing, be sure you check out the SmugMug site. There are even RSS feeds for recent photos and recent galleries. Pretty sharp.

Staying Loose Can Help Keep Your Ego In Check

A common complaint I run into in our little bubble of the tech blogosphere is that the most widely known bloggers are ego-driven, and will pull any shenanigan to keep themselves on top. Sometimes, they are accused of making themselves part of the story, if not the story itself, eschewing traditional journalism rules that separate the subject from its author.

While I have personal high expectations, I hope not to convey the same type of "it's about me" nonsense people have seen elsewhere. That's been helped of late by some very silly peers who took the time to mock my seeming omnipresence online with a pair of interesting endeavors - first, a parody site, and second, a room on FriendFeed that parallels the Internet meme of "Chuck Norris Facts".

Unlike other recent skirmishes online that have taken place around parody and satire, these haven't sprung up with ill intent, and I don't have any plans to stop either one, although I think it's best if I leave them be without being all that involved. After all, it's much more fun to watch the nonsense from the sidelines.

LoisGray.com: A Blog for Late Adopters

The satire site, started on Thursday, is called www.loisgray.com, featuring my inverse logo, and billing itself as a "Tennessee Valley Blog for late adopters, technophobes, RSS oblivious, and apple growers. (May also occasionally contain some TV, news, recipes, and politics...)"

Early posts on loisgray.com (which were quite funny) explained the difficult issues of getting online without AOL and using Google to search the Web. But as the article warns, "never click on the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button because that takes you to the internet porn that you hear so much about." Good advice.

Louis Gray Facts (A FriendFeed Room)

Developed out of a silly conversation with Charlie Anzman of SEO and Tech Daily, some enterprising FriendFeeders made a room dedicated to what they called "Real, true, verifiable facts about Louis Gray", promising the ability to surpass the commonplace.

Some of my favorites from "Louis Gray Facts"

• "Louis Gray doesn't have a Backspace button on his keyboard. It's humanly impossible for him to make a typo."
  
• “There's a reason Louis Gray isn't on TechMeme more often: it very rarely meets Louis Gray's strict standards.”
  
• “Louis Gray only uses Excel for the pretty charts, Louis Gray crunches all the stats in his head.”

The second I start believing this stuff, I'm in trouble. I'm clearly getting mocked. But I appreciate some good-natured amusement, and it certainly isn't expanding my ego any. That people care enough to take time to pull my chain is fun, but I know where I stand, and it's not at the top. Now go pressure LoisGray.com to post some more. (As if I didn't hear that Lois and Clark nonsense all through elementary school)

Sarah Comes Home, Making Our Family Whole

After a seemingly long ten days of seeing Sarah, the smaller of our twins, in the special care nursery at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, we had the good fortune to pick her up yesterday morning and take her home, meaning our family of four is now complete. The doctors' concerns as to Sarah's low weight, small appetite and inability to regulate her own temperature were largely alleviated, and we now have the great opportunity to set into a routine of feedings, changings and alternating between our two small children, at least until I head back to work.

I announced Sarah's coming home yesterday on Twitter and shared early photos on FriendFeed, but as I know my last message, saying Matthew had come home alone, had raised some worries by avid readers of this blog, I know the right thing to do is complete the story.


Sarah modeling from home this afternoon.
Both Sarah and Matthew remain quite small. Sarah is about 4 pounds. In fact, with her weight below two kilograms, she wasn't eligible to receive a Hepatitis B vaccination, which will have to wait. And Matthew has only gained one ounce, to 4 pounds, 11 ounces, since he came home a week ago. Together, my wife and I are working on over-feeding both these kids and plumping them up, both for their health, and of course, so that they finally fit in the myriad of cute outfits they've acquired. Surprisingly, even the newborn sizes are too large, as both Sarah and Matthew are practically swimming even in their smallest onesies and caps.

I won't be wholly turning the blog over to family updates in lieu of tech and other news, but I thought it important to let you know Sarah's home, and we're very excited. So far, the kids have been absolutely great. I know there'll be days in the future where I won't think so, but it's exactly what we were always hoping for.

Want to help out? Now that we're a bigger family, we're going to need a bigger car (or two). If you've got experience in this area, help add on to the great FriendFeed conversation on what to do next. There are also rooms there called Babyfeed and Schwag Magnets, where I'll be posting more baby items going forward.

We're Home, But One Baby Was Left Behind

This afternoon, my wife and our son Matthew were discharged from Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, four days after the arrival of our twins. And while we're excited to be home, in a comfortable environment, we have had the unenviable position of leaving Sarah, our second twin, behind. While she's expected to gain weight and strength to the point she can round out our home by the end of the week, the gap between what we had expected and what has happened is very real - leaving me feeling we're not going to be fully whole until everybody is home where they belong.

On Friday night, as I saw the pediatricians busily tending to our twins just moments after they were extracted via Caesarean section, they called out the weights of the babies. Matthew, born at 9:01, weighed in at 5 pounds even. It was less than I had hoped, but acceptable. When they called out Sarah's weight, at only four pounds, three ounces, my heart sank. She had come into the world more frail than we had hoped, and would need to work extra hard from day one.


Matthew Gray in the crib in his first night home.
I myself was a premature baby, more than 30 years ago, having been born two months ahead of schedule, and weighing in at four pounds, six ounces. A generation ago, such low birthweight was more life-threatening than it is in today's advanced medical world, and I struggled, to gain weight, to gain respiratory strength, and early on, it wasn't clear if I'd ever have full mental or physical capabilities. As my dad often jokes, "We were told you had a 50% chance of being disabled, and a 50% chance of being mentally challenged. We're still waiting to find out which one it is going to be."

When my wife and I found out we were going to have twins, we were ecstatic. Finding we were pregnant by the end of last year, and that we were having twins was amazing. We've been preparing for it as the months drew closer, as our home is fully prepped for pairs of everything - from outfits to swings, to booster chairs, and car seats. But while we knew twins would come before the full gestational period for a singleton, we certainly didn't think about having not just one, but two, lower birthweight, pre-term babies.


Google's calculator helps us know just how small Sarah is.
So far, while Matthew had met the threshold needed to stay with us since his debut, Sarah has not. While he was in the "Wellness Baby Clinic", Sarah lagged behind, in the "Special Care Nursery". Matthew stayed with us 24/7 each of the last few days, while we only could visit Sarah in 15 to 45-minute increments, to pass along milk, or to hold her and remind her she is as much a part of our family as her brother. She stayed behind, not just because of her low weight, but due to concerns she would be unable to keep her temperature regulated. And while she looks to be on the verge of being healthy enough to come home, it will be days yet. Now, we're here in Sunnyvale, and she, with the other children given a less than ideal start, is working hard at Stanford to get that chance.

It's well known that babies in their first week tend to lose as much as 10 percent of their original birthweight, before gaining it back and eventually, starting an upward trajectory, which for most Americans at least, never stops. But every night, we got an update on Sarah's weight. From 4 pounds, 3 ounces, it crept downward, to 4 pounds, 1 ounce, and eventually, to 3 pounds, 15 ounces, where it is today. Sarah has never, at her heaviest, been as big as I was when I was once considered dangerously small. And yet, we have had to put our trust in the doctors, who expect that she'll fight through the slow start and be with us soon.


Matthew only takes up half what the crib was meant to hold.
Nobody has expressed any great concerns about her humble beginnings, and the hospital is notoriously conservative. I also know that the 3 to 4 pound range isn't quite the drama it once was. But to be discharged today, and leave the hospital with just one baby instead of two makes me feel that in some way, we're already failing as parents. Our car ride home had one empty car seat. Our crib, divided for two, has only one occupant. And Sarah, who arguably needs the most help, is the only one we can't get to.

We're still very happy our twins are here, and despite their size, are healthy. I expect Sarah will be with us in just days, and that this part-time adjustment from zero kids to one to two in a week will seem like a small blip in short time, but while we've bonded with Matthew and know him well, we'll be starting almost from scratch with Sarah, and that just doesn't seem fair.

The Gray Family Doubles Overnight. Welcome Matthew and Sarah!

I'll hope you can excuse my not posting anything here yesterday. You see, yesterday we were somewhat busy. Shortly after 9 p.m. yesterday night, my wife, Kristine, and I welcomed two new arrivals into our home - Matthew David Gray and Sarah Elizabeth Gray. After about 35 1/2 weeks of gestation, the pair emerged somewhat early, and definitely on the small side, but all signs point to them both being healthy and strong, even if we start slow.

In what I believe was a Web first, I tried to chronicle the proceedings, as best as I was able, using FriendFeed and Twitter in combination. Robert Scoble famously covered son Milan's arrival via Twitter and others have followed suit. But with FriendFeed offering me the best community and conversational platform, combined with great WiFi here at Lucille Packard Childrens' Hospital, I wanted to take advantage.

Thursday at 10:40 p.m.

Thursday night, the process kicked off when my wife's water broke. Having passed the 32 week mark earlier, when we knew it was "safe" to have our kids, we knew the time was imminent. We had hoped for a July 1 arrival, around 37 weeks, but we were as ready as possible, if any parents are ever ready.

Dog-sitting in Palo Alto, I had to turn around to Sunnyvale, finish packing her hospital bag, grab some things and turn back around. Somehow I did this without breaking any speed limits or running red lights.

Meanwhile, Kristine had started contractions, and was measuring around 10 minutes apart.

Friday at 12:30 a.m.

After coming back to Palo Alto, Kristine and I headed to Lucille Packard Children's Hospital and checked in. She was monitored, and contractions were definitely present. June 20th was going to be the day the twins were coming.

Friday at 12:53 a.m.

I wrote a quick note, using TwitAbit, to Twitter, saying, "For those who are curious... today is going to be the day. The "Schwag Magnet" twins are coming. Don't expect minute by minute updates."

The twins had often been referred to as "Schwag Magnets" by Cyndy of Profy and others, thanks to my call for them to wear Web-branded apparel at the end of March. There's even a FriendFeed room dedicated to "Schwag Magnets" and parents of all types.

My quick Tweet set FriendFeed abuzz, as you can see here. I tried to post updates every once in a while, saying contractions were 4-5 mintues apart, and that we would be there for a while.

Robert Scoble bet the twins would be "here by noon", and reminded us to "Breathe! Breathe! Breathe!"

I later checked in and said contractions were down to 2-3 minutes apart. But as time went forward, and there wasn't too much progression, FriendFeed got antsy, and of course, so did we.

Friday at 1:30 p.m.

After 12+ hours of early labor, things were not progressing as quickly as we had hoped. I updated people on Twitter again, only jokingly saying, "Twins still not here well after @scobleizer's 12 noon expected deadline. www.blamescoble.com"

Fellow FriendFeeders also noticed I'd managed to work in my usual Web activity between contractions.

While Kristine kept pushing, and contractions kept getting measured, the labor wasn't progressing all that much. Every few hours, the nurses and doctor would come in, only to find dilation was extremely slow. What was expected to go at a pace of 1 cm per hour was more like 1 cm per 3 hours, and eventually, no progression at all.

Friday at 3 p.m.

Superstitiously, I got out of my A's shirt, which I'd been wearing all day, and put on a Disqus T-shirt I got from Daniel Ha in our last visit. Given their success, I was hoping something would rub off. (Again, I updated Twitter.)

Friday at 7 p.m.

Kristine and I soon came to the same conclusion the doctors had - trying to continue with a vaginal delivery wasn't going to work. 20 hours after the water had broken, and 19 hours into the labor, we had stalled. The kids were in great shape, showing healthy heartbeats, but it was time to consider having a C-Section. It was something we wanted to avoid, but to avoid infection, and be sure to see our kids well, we agreed to move forward.

This time, I updated FriendFeed only, and not Twitter, saying only: "C-Section Imminent. Won't be Long Now. (Wish us Luck!)"

Friday at 9:01 p.m.

Matthew David Gray arrived, weighing in at 5 pounds even, measuring 47 centimeters.

Friday at 9:03 p.m.

Sarah Elizabeth Gray arrived, weighing in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces, measuring 47 centimeters.

Friday at 11:00 p.m.

After checking Sarah into the NICU, and Matthew into the nursery, I returned to find Kristine in recovery. Getting her approval, I updated Twitter and FriendFeed, saying: "Baby Grays are here! The boy clocked in at 9:01 at 5 pounds, and the girl weighed in at 4 pounds, 3 oz at 9:02. Both healthy.” (Note I was off on the second time by a minute)

After a long day of waiting, FriendFeed erupted with congratulations, and so did Twitter. See the Summize stream!

Now

It's amazing to imagine how much people care, given our interactions are often so virtual, but I have to impress upon you how appreciative we are.

The twins' small size was expected, but not to such a degree. In fact, our latest ultrasound, 10 days prior, had expected Matthew to already be 5 pounds, 1 ounce, and Sarah at 4 pounds, 8 ounces. But we were near the margin of error. While the kids had all their fingers and toes, and responded to stimulation, Sarah's tiny size has guaranteed her a stay in the NICU. Matthew is in the nursery, and spent the night with Kristine and me, as we alternated holding him and catching some sleep.

I promise we will deliver pictures soon. We have only a few already. The twins' arrival was very visible, and we hope to keep you updated, between feedings, diapers and everything else. It's not like we're the first parents ever to have kids, but it's the first time we've ever done it. I'm glad to have been able to share the experience with you. More very soon.

The Web Offers a Window Into Paradise's Burning

Three weeks ago, I told a story about how Northern California fires had once chased my family and me from our home, as evacuation orders had our family of seven packing our belongings and heading to the central valley floor, not knowing what we'd find when we returned. This weekend, the fires came back to Paradise, where I lived from 1994 to 1999, and where my family spent 10 years. But this time they weren't stopped at the town limits, and the fire has consumed more than 70 homes, so far scorching more than 23,000 acres.

Over the last 24 hours, I've turned to the Web to learn all I can about this tragedy, and through the various tools out there on the Web, from newspaper Web sites to user submitted photography, recorded video, and even a streaming broadcast of the county's public safety scanner, to learn what has happened. And the news is not good.


Firefighters Take to the Air to Fight the Blaze
While this blaze, dubbed the "Humboldt Fire", hasn't gained the national attention given the San Diego fires last year, or even the awareness we saw in the Bay Area for the fire last month in the Santa Cruz mountains, the effects are just as devastating. While I haven't called Paradise home for almost a decade, we've gotten word over the last day or so that friends' homes have been wiped clean from the earth, their life's dreams and possessions erased in a flaming fury.

The two main sources of news have been the area newspapers, including the Chico Enterprise Record, where I once wrote as a staff intern back in 1995 and 1996, and the smaller, hometown Paradise Post.


See KCRA Sacramento's Report on the Blaze from Friday
Photos from the Enterprise Record have been circulated through the Associated Press, and show stories of loss, heroic efforts from those fighting the blaze, and agony. The Enterprise Record also asked those effected by the fires to submit their own photos, and both collections feature hundreds of first-party accounts. At one point, nearly 10,000 of the town's 30,000 residents were asked to evacuate, and of the three roads out of town, only one was left open, with none who left being able to return.

A PDF map of those homes burned shows the flames came within a mile of where I spent my 8th grade to 12th grade years. And while the family who now lives in our home appears to have been safe, other friends were not so lucky.

My younger sister, writing on our family blog, posted last night:

"The Rogers and the Sterlings both lost their homes. The Greers are still not able to stay at their home and are in (Yuba City). The Halls are okay, as is Tiger Tail. All of Wayland is supposedly gone."

The Rogers family and The Sterling family were both friends and members of our church. Tiger Tail Lane, which my sister references, is where our home was, luckily escaping the flames again. Tonight, my mother added a new note:

"The Sterlings are apparently devastated -- it took them 20 years to build their home."

The Sterling's youngest son, Rob, is currently serving a two-year mission for the church, and it now becomes a trial for the family to see if they tell him, or when they can tell him, without distracting from what they consider extremely important work.

This kind of personal detail makes what otherwise would be yet another sad story full of statistics on homes burned and acres torched just that much more real. I can check the CDF's report and see that the blaze is now 45% contained, has cost $5 million so far, employing nearly 4,000 fire personnel. I can see stories that say it will be fully contained by Monday, and that the threat to Paradise has decreased, but clearly, for some it is already too late.

I'm watching on the Web, but I can't help but feel powerless.

Our Twins' Countdown Enters 20 Day Window

A month ago, I offered an update, saying our family was in a time of transition, as we prepared to go from a two-person household to four overnight, with the imminent arrival of our twin boy and girl. Last week, we saw another major change in our home as our 18-year-old beagle companion, Molly, passed on, much to our dismay. Today, following an array of doctor's visits, we're going full-speed ahead with more change, as the twins' debut date is no longer months away, but only weeks.

Here's an update.
(And if you're looking for tech or social media, you can skip this post)

This afternoon, Kristine went in for what's called a Fetal Non-Stress Test (NST), her third, where the babies' heart rates are measured, and she's monitored to check for contractions, be they Braxton Hicks, or the real thing. In both of the first two visits, contractions were definitely taking place, and as it's too early, even for twins, for these two to show up, she has been on medication in the last few weeks, popping pills every four hours, around the clock.

The NST test involved her laying still for about 30 minutes, hooked up to audible heart monitors, and a ticker tape showing their beats per minute, and any noted contractions. Both babies checked in around 135 BPM on average, spiking up to 150 or higher when disturbed. Despite the medicine, we still observed some contracting, but nothing major to be concerned about.

Following the NST test, we headed in for what might be our final ultrasound, in what's become an every two weeks visit at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto.

The RN and doctor observed both kids are in good shape, both are well-positioned, and don't have any clear abnormalities. At just over 34 weeks, the boy is tracking at 5 pounds and one ounce, at 39th percentile (when measured against a singleton birth), and the girl is tracking a bit smaller, at 4 pounds, eight ounces, at the 25th percentile. The doctors told us that her smaller size was nothing to be concerned over, but it's clear that, as with most men, the boy is already taking his unfair share.

Our last visit was with the OB/GYN, who sounded pleased with the progress, and said all is tracking extremely well. When we first learned of the twin pregnancy, we were told to be pleased with anything over 32 weeks, and that 36 or 37 weeks is considered "full term" for twins. Now halfway through the 35th week, we were told we should not plan on going beyond the 37th week, which puts us anywhere from a dozen to twenty days away from having our lives permanently changed - no doubt for the better, and for the worse different.

While we haven't publicly posted names, as we honestly don't have that part completed, the twins have already gained a nickname from Profy's Cyndy Aleo-Carreira, who has taken to calling them "schwag magnets", after my repeated calls for Web 2.0 themed logoed baby gear. Our home has been inundated with baby gear, to be sure, thanks to an array of giving friends and relatives, not to mention three separate showers, but we're not drowning in logoed apparel yet. The ones we've gained so far have been fun, and I can't wait for the kids to model them, but it's not as if they have a brand for every day of the week.

While I know the change will definitely impact my behavior here, the goal is to keep going, with the blog, and all various activities online, from sharing to participating. There have been doubters, but I'll be watching this case study, as will some of you for sure. We'll try and keep you posted.

All Dogs Go To Heaven. For Molly, It Took 18+ Years.

At 3 o'clock this afternoon, Kristine and I entered the local veterinarian's office with our 18-plus year old beagle Molly, who has been a member of our family, and a constant companion to my wife for more than a dozen years. A little over an hour later, the two of us emerged, and Molly was gone. After three bouts with cancer, the loss of a toe, innumerable odd moles and tumors here and there, not to mention thousands upon thousands of meals, walks, and snuggling time, today was the day we had to say goodbye.

Molly lived a long, pampered life. Her debut in 1990 was so long ago when you think about it. Milli Vanilli had achieved a Grammy award for best new artist. It would be another year before Bill Clinton would announce his candidacy for the presidency. Later in 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, leading to the first Gulf War. As for me, I was in junior high school.

Little is known about Molly's early years. Kristine found Molly at a Beagle Rescue in San Jose in 1995, becoming her second dog, joining Digger, a thicker, older male beagle, who, according to my wife, wasn't always too fond of Molly. The two vied for attention until 2001, when Digger passed on, leaving Molly as the sole focus of Kristine's attention.

By 2002, Kristine and I were dating, and Molly took to me right away. As my wife says, the dog was more fond of me than she was at first. Molly had always liked men, and knowing herself to be more than an ordinary dog, she greatly preferred the company of humans to fellow canines.

But even back then, Molly's health was showing signs of fatigue. She was diagnosed with skin cancer and underwent radiation to stop its spread, having a nipple removed in the process, the result of too much lazy sun bathing on our deck. Yet, she recovered, and went back to being as aggressive as ever.


During the five years my wife and I have been married, Molly has been as much a part of the family as either of us. She has been there to greet us when we come home. She watches us during every meal, and was always on our bed next to us when we woke up, if we hadn't put her on the bed ourselves the night before. Being a scent hound, she was always ready to eat at a moment's notice, and every walk was full of new opportunities to sniff and find new places she hadn't smelled before.

But in 2006, she started hopping around again. Somehow, she gained an infection, due to cancer, again, this time in the nailbed which had her favoring her back right paw, at times making her fall over as she tried to avoid the pain. The vets said the right thing to do was remove the toe, and after a few days, Molly was again as good as new, running with a limp, tail wagging behind her.

As she got older and slower, we would see Molly sleeping more, running more slowly. She no longer stood up on her hind legs to ask for food, and at times wouldn't wake up even if we slammed the door shut. Later, her eyesight, hearing and sense of smell seemed to go away. While she once could find a single piece of kibble from across the room, I would have to place the kibble in front of her nose and then draw my hand back in fear of getting snapped as she couldn't exactly get her aim right.

In May of 2007, as you might remember, we suffered a scare when I came home to find Molly completely out of sorts, head bobbing to and fro, eyes, unsettled, and her not being able to find the dog door to relieve herself. It turned out she had what's known as old dog vestibular disease, which had knocked out her equilibrium, but after about 10 days of wondering if we should send her to the sanitarium, she came back, almost good as new.

In the ensuing year, we've seen odds and ends inflict this dog even as she pushed through and acted as our companion, a bridge between our first being married, and now, approaching the birth of our twins. Molly had her various ailments, including an infected eye, an infected ear, and too many moles and fatty tumors to mention. But as soon as we struck one issue down, another would come up. Most recently, Molly developed a tumor in her cheek that was again, likely cancer, and bled profusely wherever she would go. We covered our couch, our bed, and her bed with towels, only to find blood there, and on the carpet and our clothes, or wherever she had been. She was sensitive to the touch, but not in clear pain, so as her situation deteriorated, we hoped she would pull through, knowing that the time was coming for us to make a choice.

This weekend was especially hard. Molly wasn't herself, not waking up in the mornings to ask for food. We hadn't seen her tail wag in weeks, and she continued to bleed. Still coherent of us, she seemed to be as cuddly as ever, but she was communicating that it was time to be done. She was too tired, and had hung on for too long. Treatment to fix the lesion would be too invasive and too risky to try, especially on a dog the equivalent of a 100-year-old woman. While we dreamed of the five-person holiday cards this Christmas, with Molly alongside our new family of four, it wasn't going to happen, and today, we said goodbye.

Though I've been a mere add-on to the partnership she and my wife had, I loved that dog. She was the cutest, softest thing, ever. She was the best companion to sit alongside me whether I read, blogged or watched TV. She was always happy to go on a walk, even if it wasn't that far or she couldn't go that fast. She was quiet and didn't mind our silly hours, often stirring at 1 a.m. to be sure we were still up.

I wish we had the luxury of going to sleep one evening and waking up with Molly having passed quietly in the night, but with her situation getting worse by the day, it was time to take a deep breath, give her hugs and say goodbye. While we know its only weeks until we have plenty of noise here in our small condo, we've come home to quiet. Molly's left us to a place without arthritis, without lesions, where she's not at risk of cancer, and she can roam free to sniff all she wants. We'll miss her a great deal. I expect we will see some tears here now and again from those that knew her, but it was the right thing and a tough choice.

More stories about Molly, our 18-year-old beagle wonder-dog:

Impatient Pooch (January 14, 2006)
Molly the Beagle Sleeping on The Job (October 12, 2006)
Are the Beagle and the Roomba Conspiring? (November 10, 2006)
My Dog Ate the Blogosphere (February 28, 2007)
Our 17-Year-Old Beagle Is Slowing Down (May 24, 2007)
Our Dog, Molly, Seems to be Doing Much Better (June 3, 2007)
Our Beagle and Friends Get in the Holiday Spirit (December 9, 2007)

Silicon Valley Is Smoking Right Now

That Northern California has the occasional blaze is not new. But a wildfire in Santa Cruz County has burned more than 3,000 acres, destroying 10 homes (as of this posting), and filled the entire Silicon Valley in a gloomy gray haze. (See Google News or KRON 4's coverage) While my Sunnyvale home is well away from the fire, it is definitely disconcerting to have our condo and all of the outdoors smell like a Memorial Day barbeque gone wrong.

While I'd heard the occasional news update yesterday about the Summit Fire, hearing it was a little over 10% contained by yesterday evening, it wasn't until late night when I started to feel the effects. The son of an asthma sufferer, I was lucky enough to be born with my lungs as an Achilles' Heel, as I dealt with my share of bouts with bronchitis as a kid, and can still wheeze after any good exercise. As my wife and I moved furniture around and cleaned out closets in preparation for the twins' near-term arrival, I found myself gasping for breath and coughing, as if I'd just completed a 5 kilometer run, and gotten winded. After weeks of seeing my wife, now nearly 32 weeks pregnant, put her arms akimbo and gasp for breath, the scene was comical, as we both were near images of each other. Given how out of shape I am, I swear we could even have done a belly bump.

This morning, I left our condo only to find the hallway wreaked of smoke. Taking the elevator down to the first floor, I encountered a woman leaving the front door ajar in hopes the first floor's smoke alarm would stop beeping, alerting us to non-existent danger.

And I wasn't the only one noticing the effects. Patrick Barry reported smoke filling downtown Mountain View, while others similarly said Stanford, Atherton and Los Altos were blanketed in the haze. The situation near work, on the border of San Jose and Milpitas, also smelled like a forest campout, only without marshmallows, S'mores and mosquitos.

This minor inconvenience to us is no doubt tiny compared to those directly impacted or fighting the fire. My younger sister, a police dispatcher for Scotts Valley PD, near Santa Cruz, put in a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift last night, helping direct officers who were engaged in the area. A state of emergency was declared and according to the Governator, the best people are on it.

Looking backward 15 years ago, to my sophomore year in high school in Chico, our family was more directly impacted by area fires. The seven of us (My parents, myself, 2 brothers and 2 sisters) had to pack up and evacuate our home two or three times in the space of week, as fires threatened to scale the nearby canyon walls, and take on the town of Paradise, which despite its name, is ridiculously positioned on a ridge between two fire-prone canyons with not much more than two ways downhill and out of town.

(See: Google News archive: "Arsonists who were "inspired" by the spectacular Old Gulch and Fountain fires in August have set dozens of fires, including 35 in Butte County alone" -- San Jose Mercury News)

With an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 senior citizens who drive just like you would expect, the prospect of getting in some massive conga line downhill was not all that inviting. But that didn't stop a firebug or two gaining inspiration from fires that were already burning, and starting more, one of which was set just outside the town limits, raining big flakes of ash on our home, our yard and our car, with CDF helicopters flying over our home, grabbing water from nearby ponds or lakes and dumping it on the flames in an attempt to save the city.

Already having our perceived valuables in the car from the last time we had evacuated, my mom put the rest of us kids in the station wagon, and we headed down to the Valley, not knowing if we would come back to a house or scorched earth. Luckily, the firefighters had done an amazing job, stopping the fire a mere 100 feet from where homes started, and from which there likely would have been no stopping the flames.

Weeks after the fires had died down, we headed to a point looking over the canyon and saw blackened trees in every direction. At my foot, I plucked a blackened rock from the dirt, seeing it divided in two, the top half, permanently charred by fire, and the lower half, protected underground. More than a souvenir, it served to remind us how close the fires had come. Hopefully, when the smoke clears from this week's blaze, we'll learn more stories of near-misses than of tragedy. It'll make all of us breathe a lot easier.

Continuous Parallel Attention: My New Reality

When you really want to concentrate, do you need a quiet room with no distractions, or does playing loud music help you focus? Can you hold a conversation while typing? Can you read blogs and write e-mail while watching TV? I do. And I must. For with all the information available these days, and my personal unwillingness to miss out on conversations or media consumption, I've done more than embrace what many call "continuous partial attention". Instead, I believe I have a goal of achieving "continuous parallel attention", whereby no single task is given primary focus, but instead, multiple tasks gain the same focus.

The common definition of continuous partial attention can be simplified to a person being focused on a single primary task but monitoring background tasks. This can be driving with the radio on, reading a book with a baby sleeping in the next room, or writing a proposal with Twitter on in the background.

Some do this well. Others don't.

Nearly 100% of the time I'm watching TV, I've got my laptop in my lap, with the TV screen's lower half ending just above the top of MacBook Pro screen. In contrast, if I try and talk to my wife when she's writing an e-mail, she probably won't hear me, and once I interrupt, she stops typing.

Last month, I talked about my social media consumption workflow, explaining how I started off my day, working essentially left to right to be sure I processed the information flow in the right way. This issue came up again this morning, when Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester revealed his own morning habits. In the ensuing FriendFeed discussion, I said I too try to knock out much of the activity at the beginning and end of the day, but also keep up what I call "continuous parallel attention" in between.

With continuous parallel attention, essentially multi-tasking, no single activity is getting priority over the other. I am writing e-mails at the same time I am listening to music, at the same time I am getting RSS feeds and seeing Twitter updates or seeing the FriendFeed page reload. Ask me the lyrics of the song, and I can tell you. Ask me what was said on Twitter, and I can probably tell you. Through continuous parallel attention, you're not giving one activity the short shrift due to time or priority, but instead, making sure every activity gets the right focus.

If you drive into the office, but you are thinking about the next blog post, or the next meeting, or even where to go for lunch, that's not mind wandering or being distracted. That's parallel attention. Your radio might be on and you're singing along. If a squirrel darts out in front of your car, you'll still hit the brakes. If a commercial comes on the radio, you still change the station. All in parallel. Your driving doesn't get worse. I'd argue I even drive better with loud music I know, where I'm pounding the steering wheel with every bass drum beat. I work better when I've got multiple things at once, in parallel.

The same is true for engaging with social media. Have you seen Robert Scoble's video from Media Bistro earlier this week? (See: Center Networks: Video: Robert Scoble on the "Worldwide Talk Show")

Robert doesn't linearly go one by one to consume his social media. He is running his RSS feeds, his Twitter feeds, and his video, all in parallel. The human brain is an amazing sponge, ready to take in new information, and if you practice, practice, practice, you can train it, like a muscle, to be ready for exercise. Achieving continuous parallel attention in social media means you don't have to stop one task to pick up the next. You just keep going. Yes, I saw that RSS feed. Yes, I read that e-mail. Yes, I saw your tweet and your FriendFeed post. But I also got all my work done, caught up on our TiVo shows, and picked up the groceries. It's not because I go without sleep (though I need less than most)... it's because of this parallel focus. You should try it.

Duncan Riley's First Week at The Inquisitr Is Inspiring

When news first hit that Duncan Riley had left TechCrunch, I thought his departure might see him theoretically fading into something like the proverbial sunset, as one of the blogosphere's most notable characters could have declared "Enough", put down his keyboard and gone home. On the news, I publicly wished him well, and hoped he would keep "staying aggressive". (See my comment.)

Not only has Duncan Riley stayed absolutely relevant, but he's captured the "aggressive" piece as well. Now, arguably, I'm reading Duncan Riley's news with more interest than I had been when he was at TechCrunch, and a week in, his transition to The Inquisitr, his new home, seems perfectly natural. Just one week in, the new site is getting about ten times the page views as I am, and he reports subscribers have already eclipsed my number, rocketing upwards to the 2,000 mark (myself included). Not shabby at all.

Part of the intrigue posed by The Inquisitr is Duncan's mix of both tech news, which makes sense, and more spicy celebrity news, which can also be interesting, even to us jaded geeks. And the reduced stress through no longer posting at the grindstone of TechCrunch has clearly lightened Duncan's mood. Virtually gone are the f-bombs that would be a common sight on his Twitter feed, replaced instead with a plethora of smiley-face emoticons. And in the midst of his move, Duncan has even opened up to reconsider his stance on a few things where we had locked horns back in March.

To those unfamiliar, in mid-March, amidst unprecedented hype around FriendFeed, Duncan took a look at the service for TechCrunch, and came away unimpressed. Responding, I said, undiplomatically, that he had missed the point, and argued a response. As I wrote Duncan in an e-mail earlier this week, at the time, I had used his name in the headline to differentiate from TechCrunch, who has multiple authors, and had previously written some positive notes on the service, but my write-up hit him quite personally. Making matters worse, my response stayed atop Techmeme virtually all day that Friday, which I was monitoring from my sun-drenched seats at Spring Training in Arizona.

The unexpected exposure definitely had gotten under Duncan's craw, as the next morning, I awoke to a follow-on note from Duncan on his personal site, that bluntly questioned my goals and credibility. Uninterested in fanning the flames further, and gaining an enemy for life, I stayed quiet, but others made plenty of comments on my behalf.

Knowing this is a small industry, I hoped Duncan and I could reconcile the differences. After all, who knew when we would see each other at an event? What if we were on the same panel or even were asked to speak on the same podcast? But as the rift had been very public, I thought it unfortunately might not ever happen - until this week. Now at The Inquisitr, Duncan sent me an e-mail on Monday asking if I could help him understand why I supported FriendFeed. He said he was even open to reconsidering his stance and would listen to opposing viewpoints. So, not only did I send him a lengthy note with my answers, (See: The Inquisitr: Why You Should Use FriendFeed), but I also gave him more background on the March flare-up. I have always respected Duncan's efforts, and see him as a good writer, but if there was ever an example of getting off on the wrong foot... this had been it.

Monday night, I opened up the laptop, and saw that not only was the story published, but Duncan had re-signed up to FriendFeed, and was talking up his renewed relationship with the site via Twitter. It's a wonder what the combination of reduced stress, a little communication, and time can do. Now, you can find Duncan on FriendFeed, and he's doing more than using it as a broadcast medium, but he's engaged. He's commenting, and liking and giving tips to fellow users.

I'm liking the content I'm seeing from The Inquisitr. It's a fun read, and there's a good pace of new articles coming in through the RSS feed. But I'm more pleased (and relieved) the public rift with Duncan is over. As with the back and forth I had with Mashable back in January, there are definitely things I would change about the words I wrote, and the way things were portrayed, but in the end, we're stronger for it. I get along excellently with the team at Mashable, from Adam Ostrow to Mark Hopkins, and now, I feel I know Duncan better than I would have otherwise. Given the industry's size, it makes sense we try and avoid these battles that tear us down, and instead work to prop each other up. I'm glad Duncan's at a place where he can contribute to the tech blogosphere and stay stress-free. We're all better for it.

Our Family Gears Up for a Time of Transition

After more than a dozen solid years teaching social studies, as well as a number of other subjects here and there, at the junior high and high school level, my wife, for the first time, turned her back on the school year well prior to graduation, and we don't know when she'll go back. As of 5:00 p.m. this evening, she's officially on maternity leave, in theory, resting up until the big day when our twins are scheduled to launch in early beta.

Our home is by no means ready. We're still in the process of converting our odds & ends/junk room/guest room into something resembling a place for our kids to stay. For the most part, this has consisted of us carting box after box to Public Storage, and becoming ever more generous to Good Will. In the meantime, we've had good friends and colleagues donate clothes, diapers and all manner of toys for the as of yet unseen youngsters.

In the next few weeks, we still need to move out some furniture, bring in a crib, dresser, changing table, and rocker with matching ottoman. Some of these things have already been ordered from Babies R Us or Amazon. Others, we'll get from friends. But as the days go by, and my wife gets a tad bigger and a tad more fatigued, this is getting more and more real. After five years as a married couple, offering shelter to only ourselves and a cantankerous old beagle, who refuses to step down from her post, we're going have to learn how to go from two to four overnight, and how to take one income and make it do more than what our two once did.

We're absolutely looking forward to this challenge. I can't say I'm ready. I don't know that anybody I've ever met says they were 100% ready to transition from being without kids to with kids. I believe I have a great chance at being very prepared, and with patience, I just might be an adequate parent. My wife should be excellent as well, but we didn't exactly set ourselves up to have a trial run, going from no dependents to two immediately.

In the last few months, after revealing our big secret, the chorus has been overwhelming, as a good number of parents have said, often with smirks on their faces, that "life as you know it will end". It's been predicted that activity here on the blog will slow or altogether disappear. My priorities will be turned completely upside down. And... don't I know it! As much as I want to display bravado, and plan for a minimum level of disruption, inwardly, we're realistic. We know we're looking into the light ahead, and it just might be an oncoming train.

This coming Monday, I'll be the only one going back to work. And the week after that. And after that... and so on for a while. We've already agreed as a family that my wife will take the upcoming school year off, and depending how well-behaved our kids are, or how well we're doing financially, or if she's bored out of her mind, who knows what will come next... but I'll do my best to keep you posted, as best as we can. Because, if you haven't figured it out yet, I'll do all I can to keep the blog a priority, sleep be darned. We don't know when the twins will come, but the doctors are saying it could be mid-June to early July. Watch this space.

Meeting Virtual Friends In Real Life at Web 2.0 Expo

This week is one of the few opportunities where my work life and my blog life are intersecting. I have the chance to participate at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, and while the show exhibition doesn't start in earnest until tomorrow, I've already had the opportunity to make face to face connections with people who I respect, but until today, had only met online, through Twitter, through blogs, e-mail or FriendFeed. And I continue to be amazed how easy it is to meet somebody for the first time, and feel like we're close friends, solely due to our online connections.

One highlight of the day was meeting Caleb Elston, the creator of Toluu. Caleb, based in Miami, Florida, is far from home, but was nice enough to step out of a session he was attending so we could catch up. In the thirty minutes or so that we talked, he expressed excitement over how rapidly Web users have taken to his RSS feed matching and recommendation service, saying thousands had signed up, with the only limitation being how many beta invites he has offered.

In fact, the early buzz over Toluu, both here and elsewhere, led to some curiosity from colleagues at his day job, where he said he was getting more and better PR than his company. Some friends at the office even thought he might jump ship, to focus solely on Toluu. Yet, he reassured me, that wasn't in the plans. For him, developing and enhancing Toluu is done when he otherwise would be less productive, watching TV or movies, and has helped to keep him sharp and focused.

Eager to keep the Toluu buzz going, I even lobbed a call to Robert Scoble, hoping I could connect the two, but his dance card is full. He said he'd love to meet up, but it's no surprise he has interviews lined up every hour on the hour throughout the show from entrepreneurs trying to gain his attention. I don't exactly envy his schedule.

Wandering up to the press room, as my exhibitor pass wouldn't let me crash any of the sessions, I found Marshall Kirkpatrick and Josh Catone of ReadWriteWeb, as well as Brian Solis of Bub.blicio.us and PR 2.0. As Marshall has been one of my more vocal advocates since the turn of the calendar year, and as I respect RWW's efforts, it seemed natural to pull alongside and start trading stories. We talked about what was making news today at the show (not too much), and looked at the latest FriendFeed apps, MySocial 24x7 and FriendFeedMachine, which I covered yesterday. Marshall really likes MySocial 24x7 a lot, and showed me how he had it sitting in his FireFox browser sidebar, but I haven't yet installed it. That led to him teasing me about getting to a FriendFeed app before I did, which I can live with. In turn, I gave him grief for Sarah Perez' continued success at RWW, which I suggested was putting a little more pressure on him to produce. We both agreed she was doing a great job, but I don't know that she's at the show. I certainly didn't see her today.

Richard MacManus joined us at the table just as I had to leave, but I was able to introduce myself and shake hands.

On tap for tomorrow? The exhibition gets started. So, after putting in labor today, we'll be looking forward to meeting more people, both in my virtual address book, and my real world directory. We'll be at booth #115 all day, and can be reached by the contact information on the right hand side of the blog. I'm already looking forward to meeting Susan Mernit, hope to track down the Mashable team, and maybe you too! Send me a note, or drop by booth #115, and we can get connected.

louisgray.com Reader Survey (April 2008)

As the site has grown over the last year or so, the content on louisgray.com has changed. (Go directly to survey)

Sometimes, friends tell me the blog isn't as fun as it once was, while newer readers tell me it's a must-read. I'm sure the answer lies somewhere in between. So if you wouldn't mind, it'd be great to learn how you first learned about louisgray.com, what you're most interested in reading, and where you want the site to go. We are listening.

Questions:
1. How long have you read louisgray.com?
2. How do you access louisgray.com?
3. How did you first hear about louisgray.com?
4. What topics do you look for?
5. Should we focus more or less on certain topics?
6. What do you like or dislike?

It's anonymous, and only takes a minute, so, get your voice heard, and take the first louisgray.com survey!

Click Here to take the louisgray.com survey! (And thanks in advance)

Missing a Few A's Games this Year, and Turning to MLB.TV

For the last two baseball seasons, my wife and I had signed up to approximately 40 games a year. We didn't make all of them, but we made a good amount. We spent a lot of Friday evenings and Saturday mornings going up and down I-880 in the East Bay, headed to Oakland. But when news of the twins hit, we knew we had to adjust, taking the total package down to what we thought would be a more manageable 20 games a year. I even planned ahead by leaving a big gap in our ticket schedule around when the kids are expected to show up.

Even this looks like it may have been optimistic. Now that my wife and I have passed the 26-weeks mark, her fatigue level is very real. The idea of going to games on back to back days is unreasonable now - something along the lines of approved marital torture, with every stair step or stand up/sit down routine. So tonight, we're eating the price of our tickets, and staying home.

But to fill the baseball void, we're going online. I've been chairing the Thursday activity on Athletics Nation (See from yesterday's activity: How Do You Help Convert the Casual Fan? and One Can Be The Loneliest Number). Also, during last week's trip to Florida, I invested in MLB.com's video package, letting me watch any major league game in fairly good quality live, so long as the contest is not blacked out.


A scene from tonight's games (and the available schedule)
Last night, part of why I was up so late, blogging at almost 2 a.m., was due a marathon 22-inning game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres. Hearing the game had gone to the 18th, I logged on to MLB.TV and saw the game unfold, inning after inning, stretching deep into the night.

The quality of MLB.TV is remarkably better than the jittery, buffering, versions I remember from previous years. I can stream any game on one side of my monitor, and keep working on the other side, without parallel apps slowing down. With family looking like it just might get in the way of some of our in-person sports, MLB.TV is a great alternative. Soon, hopefully, I can start talking about taking our kids to their first ballgames.

Does Negativity Deliver Credibility? If So, That's Nuts.

Over the last 18 months or so, I've gained something of a reputation for being an early adopter more likely to heap praise on early versions of software with clear bugs than to drag services through the mud, calling out their every hole and flaw. I've stated that I do champion the little guy, and when I've found a service I like, there's no question you'll know, because I'll be consistent in my comments on it, highlighting new tweaks and trying to help you understand why I like what I do, and, in the converse, why I might not like other options.

But does my tendency to be positive and shun negativity make me less believable? Should I maintain a ratio of cranky posts to positive ones for variety's sake or to prove I'm not a paid shill on the take? As far as I'm concerned, no. In most cases, rather than drag down services, or dance on the graves of failed startups, I see sites' potential, and recognize the very real people behind services who are working hard to make their products as good as they can.

Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb jokingly commented on FriendFeed today: "You should write a really harsh review of something tho, just to maintain credibility!"

It's clear my quasi-utopian view isn't held in many corners of the blogosphere. Some revel in negative reviews or tearing people down. Others feel they have a calling to be "balanced", evening out an otherwise positive post by highlighting a service's deficiencies, or if the service happens to be amazing, to pick three random competitors for whom this new arrival will certainly mean curtains. But to be honest, even if I have more readers now than I did three, six or twelve months ago, this is still my personal blog, and should reflect how I feel. When I write up a service, I aim to deliver an accurate portrayal of the news, sites or individuals covered, but I would much rather highlight those companies and services I like than waste my time showing you the services that I didn't like. In essence, my silence in itself can be considered a negative review - and if you think about those topics I do write about, maybe there's a good reason I haven't covered every single service out there under the sun...

This isn't to say I haven't had a few negative posts here and there. I've at times been frustrated with TechCrunch (TechCrunch's Celebrating Failure Doesn't Help Anyone), ValleyWag (Valleywag Thinks My Old Posts are Breaking News) and even TechMeme (Blogrunner Likes Me, TechMeme Hates Me). I wasn't exactly overwhelming in my praise for NotchUp (NotchUp Sells You Out, but Nobody's Buying) and you likely remember my first comments on Fav.or.it. (Fav.or.it Beta Effort is Not My Favorite. Not Even Close.)

But these negative posts are are a rarity.

In fact, Mark Hopkins of Mashable said to one FriendFeed user in search for good PR that it's fairly obvious when I've found a favorite: "Talk to Louis Gray. Forget product evangelist. When he likes something, he's a one man crusade."

If you listened to this week's Elite Tech News podcast, you could probably tell that my positive viewpoints on the Web were frequently outnumbered by those who didn't favor companies, services, or individuals, who feared their content would be stolen, and that tech leaders and bloggers were too money-driven or ego-driven to be trusted. But I would rather accurately portray my intrigue and excitement around new services, even if they're not perfect. I don't think it does me a lot of good to sit down with a service I don't like or can't recommend and put 500 words into it.

You could probably also tell this from the interview Mark Evans posted this morning, Who’s Louis Gray?, which helps explain my background, and shows why I've ended up covering what I do. The tech world is moving faster than just about any market out there which I can think of. There are some amazing folks out there working ridiculous hours trying to make the next big thing. Only a few will make it. But if we tear them down too early, they might never actually reach their full potential, and I don't think it's really worth it, simply to engage in a race for page views.

My Wife Plans My Death By Bacon

Though I didn't mention it here, Tuesday, April 8th was my birthday, an event I surprisingly share with social networking star Chris Brogan. While Chris got introspective in a piece called "Who Am I Really", I for the most part let the event pass. After all, to me, last year's milestone was more of a big deal. (Today, Turning 30, I Get to Start Feeling Old)

But while I downplayed my birthday, my wife didn't completely ignore it, even though we were on opposite sides of the country virtually all week.

You see... she sent me an e-mail that evening, saying I'd been signed up to "what I always wanted".... a Bacon of the Month Club. That's right. Bacon. Now, once a month, for a full year, I'll get a new package of bacon, as well as a "Bacon of the Month" ballpoint pen, free t-shirt, and a toy pig, among other hoggy eccentricities.

This new Bacon of the Month diet plan will fit in nicely alongside the shakers of "Bacon Salt" I picked up last December, in the goal of making every meal have a taste of bacon. If you're into bacon, you should try it for sure.

So what's her ulterior motive here? To reduce the number of birthdays I have remaining? To make sure that I stay heavier than she does even as she grows with our twin pregnancy? Not sure. All I know is that on my desk at work I have a new package from the Bacon of the Month club daring me to open it. Yummy.

Our Unborn Kids Will Wear Your Web 2.0 Schwag

Now 23 weeks into our twin pregnancy, it's clear our son and daughter are already doomed. Although they don't even have names picked out, they are already unknowingly marching down the path to geekdom. Still a good few months before they debut, the pair are destined to be branded like the common race car, made corporate shills, through the donning of apparel featuring the logo of some of my favorite technology companies - and they could wear those of your favorites, if you feel generous.


Our Kids Want to Wear Logos. Here's a Starting Pack.
So far, we've managed to procure a pair of onesies featuring the Google, Apple and FriendFeed logos, as well as FriendFeed bibs and Google beanies, and we aren't done by any means. For while seemingly every mother wants her kids adorned in bunny rabbits, flowers and puppies, we'll have nothing to do with it. Similarly, we will push off any Disney and cartoon characters as long as we are able.

So here's the deal. I hereby promise that if you want to see one or both of our children sporting your company logo, whether it be on a onesie, a baby blanket, branded bottles, or any other baby gear, we agree to be sellouts, so long as you are in the technology space. We will not turn down any offers from hardware vendors, software vendors or Web sites. Want our children to mock me with their Windows Vista or MySpace t-shirts? Fine. We promise to dress them up and add their photos to our Flickr account for the world to see.

But rather than have our kids mocked for their poor judgment from the get-go, we already have some favorites in mind. I would love to go weeks without seeing the same logo twice. I want baby clothes from Digg, TechMeme, TiVo, Technorati, Ballhype, Facebook, ReadBurner, and Yahoo!. I'd love to see my kids bearing logos from TechCrunch, Twitter, Mashable, GigaOM and LinkedIn.

If you've got a favorite brand you want promoted, we're here for you. Send me an e-mail or call (my cell phone is on the right of the blog), and I'm more than happy to send contact information which puts my kids in the role of corporate babble-person.

Crush Your Mac Laptop for Fun and Profit!

Ever have 30 seconds of your life that you wish you could take back? A mere 30 seconds that can make a great experience instead be recalled with stains of regret? That's the quandary I find myself in, as after wrapping up a quick mini vacation that saw the Oakland A's win all four of the Spring Training games we saw from Thursday through yesterday, I made a stupid mistake that is already costing me sleep and productivity, and will no doubt lead to hitting my pocketbook. For yesterday, I crushed my MacBook Pro, like a moron, and I have pictures to prove it.

Click Any Image for a Larger Version


See how 40% of the LCD is unusable...


The latch was bent outward from being crushed.


The left side bowed from the blow.


An angled shot (without Flash).

So how did I pull that off? After checking out of the hotel yesterday, we piled our bags in the trunk of the rented convertible. Concerned, once at the game, that my laptop bag would be easily spotted in the back seat, I put it in the trunk, temporarily, in an area marked "Not for Luggage". After the game, I forgot this, momentarily, and hit the "top down" button for the convertible, which dutifully whirred to a start and crushed my laptop bag with MacBook Pro inside. I spent hours last night getting it alive (in FireWire mod) and moving data to an old G4 laptop which I'm on now. But given the MacBook Pro's hard drive is 200 GB, and this one is 80 GB, we're not failsafe yet. But we're trying, and it sounds like I have a visit or three to the Apple Store in my future.

I'm Not Reading and Engaging With Enough Female Bloggers

One of the more interesting byproducts out of Wednesday's post highlighting some of the more name-brand bloggers using FriendFeed was a number of responses saying that my subjective list of who was "elite" and who wasn't was overly weighted with male bloggers. Of my initial list of 42, I only had 2 women! And no, that doesn't sound right to me either.

Susan Mernit (FriendFeed Link) was the first to point out the discrepancy in her post "Friendfeed and the Stalkerati", where she wrote, "I was irked that Gray's A list of thirty-plus has just two women; on other hands, it's really a list of bloggers he reads, it's really no big deal--even if one if them seems to be a friend he keeps promoting." (I assume the friend is Corvida of SheGeeks, who I have mentioned 3-4 times in the last week.)

And yesterday, Stephanie Booth (FriendFeed Link) took things a big step forward when she wrote, "FriendFeed Appeals to Women, Too!", recognizing the imbalance and posting a list of 16 female bloggers, along with their FriendFeed links. Very cool.

Tamar Weinberg of Techipedia also e-mailed me, voicing similar concerns. (Her FriendFeed is here) Tamar also writes for Lifehacker, and she joined Mashable in February.

I've been thinking quite a bit about this, starting immediately following Susan's first note. And I believe there is no question that those I follow on FriendFeed or follow on Twitter, or those who write the RSS feeds I subscribe to, are predominantly men, even though the author's gender shouldn't impact my content consumption. It could be due to the subjects I follow. It could be chance. I'm not sure.

When putting together the initial list, I knew I couldn't get everybody. I remember looking for a FriendFeed account for Kristen Nicole of Mashable, and didn't find one, after having found accounts for her colleagues, Mark Hopkins, Pete Cashmore and Adam Ostrow, each of whom was included in my post. I couldn't find an account for Kara Swisher or Heather Harde of TechCrunch or Erin Gurney of Ballhype either. I had also considered including Jess Lee (Blog | FriendFeed) and Niniane (Blog | FriendFeed), who I engage with a lot on the site, but I opted not to, feeling their blogs were more weighted to personal blogs instead of tech blogs.

A quick scan of the TechMeme leaderboard doesn't exactly shout out women's names. While there are female reporters at most, if not all, of the major blog networks, those individual blogs that have floated to the top include people like Robert Scoble, Mathew Ingram, Jason Calacanis and Steve Rubel. And it's quite likely my reading list is just as male-dominated.

So, with that said, I'm hoping to get better here. My mom blogs. My wife blogs. Women everywhere are blogging, but it's obvious there's an imbalance in the way I consume tech news, and in the way I reported who's influential. And if you know of some fantastic tech bloggers carrying the "XX" chromosome, whether they are on FriendFeed or not, please post them in the comments so I can add them to my RSS feeds, and get them a little more exposure.

Heading To Arizona Tonight for Spring Training Vacation

Excerpted from my post on Athletics Nation:
"At What Point Do They Stop Being 'Former A's'?"

In just about four hours, I'm leaving (on a jet plane) to sunny Arizona, to see the A's play for four straight days, from Friday to Monday, first seeing the club take on the White Sox in Tucson, and then three straight home games, in Phoenix, where they play the Giants, Rangers and Royals. I can't wait. This is the third year in a row my wife and I have been able to see Spring Training, and I hope we'll continue to go for years to come. It's a mini-vacation of sorts, one that wraps around the weekend so I don't miss too many days of work.

But while we're very excited to see the A's play this year, and I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances with a healthier roster, not to mention full seasons of Jack Cust, Kurt Suzuki, Travis Buck and Daric Barton, one of our biggest attractions this week will be seeing the recently-departed Nick Swisher.

While we'd seen Nick play hundreds of times at the Coliseum or on TV, we didn't expect to lose him so fast. One of the young stars of the team, we expected Nick to be part of the A's nucleus for years to come. We never really got to say goodbye, and tomorrow, with equal helpings of lung power and my wife being cute (at five months pregnant... with twins... but still cute), we hope to get the chance to do more than just wave and clap mildly in our seats.

Does this mean the blog will go silent until Tuesday? Absolutely not. But that's because I don't consider blogging work. It's fun! So, I hope to have a little more variation in our posting schedule, and you'll see a good mix of baseball in with the rest of our content for a bit. Go A's!

Subtraction Through Addition Making Me Even More Digital

Living in the Bay Area, and not preemptively well off, my wife and I own a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo in Sunnyvale. It's not the largest of homes. It doesn't have a backyard and isn't in a plush neighborhood. The kitchen is small. The elevator between floors can be an adventure, and our dining room is barely more than a table's width long. But now, with two little ones on the way, we're staring directly at this lack of available space and making changes - ones that are dramatically impacting my own possessions and moving me further into the digital world.

In our home, our two bedrooms can be summed up simply by saying the first one is ours, and the second one has primarily been a dumping ground for anything we didn't want visible. It, the smaller of our two bedrooms, has been the repository for laptops beyond their time, for my bookshelf, my old baseball card and stamp collections, and decades worth of Stephen King paperbacks, not to mention a vast collection of CDs I'd accrued since college.

But with the twins looming in the next 100 days or so, change is in the air.

As mentioned a few weeks ago, I opened up an account at Public Storage, and each Saturday, my wife and I have been going through our worldly possessions, deciding to "Keep, Toss, Goodwill or Put in Storage". And each Saturday, I've seen a good deal of those things I used to call my most prized items be reduced to rubble. The bookshelf? Dismantled and tossed for scrap. An old 27" CRT television? Off to goodwill. Boxes and boxes of books? Put in Public Storage, with some going to work. My stereo, with a 50-CD carousel, dual cassette and AM/FM? To a friend, complete with CDs inside. I even took two booklets containing hundreds of CDs and gave them to coworkers, hoping I still retain borrowing privileges. And yes, we've gone through our closets a few times to get rid of clothes I know will never fit again.

Quickly, I've seen what I own largely reduced down to what I can wear, what I can consume, and that which will help me download. Given I'd already imported the vast majority of CDs into iTunes, kissing them goodbye was less a feeling of loss, and more of a technology transition. Similarly, seeing dead-tree books put into boxes made me wonder if I could instead be seeing the iTunes/iPod equivalent of eBooks debut any time soon. I don't think the Kindle is the answer yet, but we're close. And the beauty of going digital? It doesn't take up nearly as much space. Now, our biggest issues in the near-term can consist of where to keep all the orphaned wires from gadgets gone by - at least, until our two permanent visitors make an appearance.

louisgray.com: A Brief History of the Site

Editor's note: I've been thinking a lot about how I first found Web services or made them part of online life. Some, I have perfect answers for, and others, not so much. I hope to talk more about some of these experiences in the coming weeks. But I thought it