“I checked in and became Mayor!” “I received a free drink at lunch for checking in at my local pub!” “Badges, badges everywhere!” These are some things that you might be hearing and wondering what the heck are all my friends talking about.

Location-based app, Foursquare is gaining momentum in the world of location based technology (the ability to find points of interest near you using GPS).

There are really two sides to this technology:
1.) Business Advantage.  This allows businesses and organizations to plot their location on Foursquare, offer Specials and Tips about their business and market to customers near their location…for free.
2.) Customer/User Advantage. Foursquare has turned a simple location based technology into a game.  Do you have a competitive/adventurous nature, Foursquare could be for you.  You are able to generate points, earn badges, and even become the Mayor of a venue.  Find your friends by connecting to Facebook, Twitter, or your Gmail contacts.  When checking in to a venue, you can even notify your friends on Facebook and Twitter automatically via Foursquare.

Still have questions about Foursquare?  Here is a short video about what Foursquare is:

Here are a few venues that I like:

Seize The Photo Photography
Catawba County Government Center
Pixelspace

If you would like to see my Foursquare Profile, check it out here: http://foursquare.com/user/leeyount

So I just performed an automatic update to this site and everything went great!  I am excited to begin testing some of the new features such as: Custom Post Types, Menu Management, Get Shortlink feature for pages, Author Templates, and the big one…Multi-site – Being able to manage multiple WordPress Sites with one installation.

If you would like to jump right in to the WordPress 3.0, visit WordPress.org and Download WordPress 3.0

Here is a short video about the new features of WordPress 3.0

Post what you think about the new version in the comments section below!

What is Twitter?

Mini-bloging giant Twitter is continuing to gain momentum in the social media realm.  Are you tweeting, retweeting, following, being followed, on someone’s list, contributing with a hashtag,  direct messaging, shorting URL’s, or attending tweetups?  If You just skipped over that last sentence because you were lost with the Twitter terminology, you are not necessarily alone.  Twitter has made some sense of all the lingo with a simple Twitter101 tutorial and you can find it here: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/learning.

So now that you know what Twitter is, ask yourself how can you use it to fit in your portfolio of social media tools.  Here is a short video from the Common Craft Show (@commoncraft) that might spark some ideas about how you can use Twitter.

Twitter for the Masses

I attended the 2009 O’reilly Web2.0 Expo conference in NYC and Twitter was used and accepted as a major form of communication among conference attendees.  On of the ways they used Twitter was with a Twitter wall.  Basically how this worked was when someone tweeted with the hashtag #w2e it would show up in a search and displayed on the screen in front of a couple 1000 people.  Also with the use of the hashtag #w2e people would share quotes from the sessions they were attending, plans they were making with others, and a number of other uses…all within 140 characters or less.  If you would like to see the #w2e hashtag in a twitter search, you can find it here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23w2e.  Remember to leave a little room in your tweet for folks to share (re-tweet) your tweet with others.

Make it Easier – With Tools

Sometimes http://twitter.com can become over loaded and not let you log in to tweet your “super important tweet”…What to do?  Use a 3rd-Party tool.  On the desktop, my fav. is Tweetdeck.  Tweetdeck also has an iPhone app for when you are on the go!  So why use Tweetdeck?  You can tweet, retweet, follow, direct message, shorten urls, and the best part, the search feature.  You can set up several columns to search hashtags, or terms and see the results in almost real-time.  One last thing, you can also connect with your Facebook, Google Buzz, Myspace, Linkedin, and Foursquare accounts.

RSS to Twitter

Want to feed your Twitter account with your RSS feed?  I recommend Twitterfeed to accomplish this very thing.  Without getting in to the inner workings of Twitterfeed, you can push your RSS feed items to several services including  Twitter, Facebook, and a few others.

Your 140 Characters

I hope this post has given you some understanding as to what Twitter is and sparked some ideas about how you can use it in your personal and business life.  So sign up for a Twitter account and get started!  What will your 140 characters be?  Let me know how you are using Twitter or if you have any questions.

Follow Me!

You can find me on Twitter here: @leeyount

The communities surrounding Hickory, NC and Lenoir, NC are ready for Google!  (and to let everyone know who we are)  Spawning from the Woogle Hickory-Lenoir initiative, some of the folks involved have decided to put together a web portal to highlight what our area has to offer.  If you are interested in the Hickory / Lenoir, NC area visit http://hickory-lenoir-nc.com.

Citizens of the Hickory / Lenoir, NC area are encouraged to tell their friends, family, and co-workers about http://hickory-lenoir-nc.com .  Visit the site often to view announcements, community events, and even leave a comment to let everyone know what you think about a post.

With all the chatter about Flash and HTML5 in the recent days it got me to thinking about these technologies.  Steve Jobs says that Flash is “No Longer Necessary” and that the technology is antiquated now and in future innovations (especially mobile devices).  You can read Jobs’ “Thoughts on Flash” here: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

So now that the world knows what one of the most influential people of technology thinks about Flash, what do you think?  Will HTML5 be the “flash killer” or is there something else on the horizon that will astound us all and change the way we receive that important email or Facebook Status Update?

I attended the Web 2.0 Expo in NYC last year and sat in on a session about HTML5.  Since HTML5 is still very much in a “beta” mode, not all browsers support the all the functionality of HTML5…but that is rapidly changing.  Wonder if your browser supports HTML5…go here to find out: http://html5test.com/.  Also, here is a good resource understanding HTML5 as well: http://diveintohtml5.org/.  From the demos I viewed at the conference, HTML5 looks to be pretty slick.  A few of the things that really impressed me were location based applications, more control of embedding fonts (i.e. not having to create a cool graphic in photoshop just because you want to use that cool font that might not be a “standard web font”), and embedding video directly on the page without a heavy 3rd part client such as Flash.

Ok, so now that you have completely bought in to HTML5 what does that mean for the end user/you?  It means new mobile apps, receive important information faster and easier,  not having to worry about having a player installed on your computer to play video on the web, easier drag and drop support, and more collaboration easier with others.

So share what you think about HTML5 and what sort of things would you like to see come out of this new technology?

Cheers!
Lee

If you could have any app that would make your life easier, what would it be?

• Would it be a mobile app that finds the nearest park around you?
• Would it be an app that you could submit photos and video to the 911 communication center from your mobile device when you are near an emergency (wreck, disaster, your little brother fell off the swing set)?
• Would it be . . . you tell me!

So have you ever wondered how to add a custom tab at the top of your Facebook Page?  Well, here ya’ go!

1.  Get the Facebook Application: Static FBML – Visit http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878 Click Add to My Page, located at the top left of the page.

2.  Find the Page that you would like to add Static FBML to and click “Add to Page” next to the appropriate Page.

3.  Go to your Page that you just added the Static FBML application to and click “Edit Page”, located at the top left of the page under the Page’s logo.

4.  Scroll down and find “FBML – FBML” and click “edit” under the application.

5.  Enter the Name of the tab in the “Box Title” text box.  This is the text that will show up in the tab on your page.

6.  Enter your HTML (and CSS) in the “FBML” text box.  This will be what shows up in the main part of your tab.   *Note that you can only use HTML (http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp), CSS (http://www.w3schools.com/css/), and Facebook Markup Language (FBML) (http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/FBML)  in this area.  Program Languages such as PHP or ASP will not work in this area.

To copy/copy and tweak what Catawba County has done here is the code:

<table background=”http://www.catawbacountync.gov/broadband/facebook/container.png” width=”100%” height=”950px” cellpadding=”20px”>

<tr>

<td width=”90%” valign=”top” colspan=”2″>

<br /><br /><br /><br />

<h3>Google Fiber for Communities</h3>

Google is planning to launch an experiment that they hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. Google plans to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Their networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. They will offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people. <br /><br />

From now until March 26th, they are asking interested municipalities to provide them with information about their communities through a Request for information (RFI), which they will use to determine where to build their network.</p>

<p> Want to see 1 gigabit per second (~100 times faster than your connection now) Internet connection to your home, business, organization? Join your Neighbors, Friends and Co-workers to <a href=”http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/user/launch_exhibit_b” target=”_blank”>NOMINATE CATAWBA COUNTY</a> by clicking on the nominate button below.  If you would like to find out more about the Google experiment, visit the “Think big with a gig” site here: <a href=”http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi” target=”_blank”>http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi</a> . If you would like to find out more about what Catawba County and other municipalities in Catawba County are doing to nominate our area for the Google Fiber Network, visit us here: <a href=”http://enewsletter.catawbacountync.gov/broadband/” target=”_blank”>http://enewsletter.catawbacountync.gov/broadband/</a>.</p>

<p><em>*note: In order to nominate Catawba County, you will need a <a href=”https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount” target=”_blank”>Google account</a> (if you have a gmail account, log in with that). If you need a Google account, you can register for one for free here: <a href=”https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount” target=”_blank”>https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount</a> </em></td>

</tr><tr><td>
<img src=”http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/static/images/fiber_house.gif” />

</td><td><center>

<b>Nominate Catawba County for a Google fiber optic trial<br />by clicking the button below!</b> <a href=”http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/user/launch_exhibit_b” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://www.catawbacountync.gov/broadband/facebook/nominate.png” width=”350″ height=”150″ border=”0″ alt=”Nominate Catawba County for the Google Fiber Experiment” /></a>

</center></td><tr>

<td colspan=”2″>

<center>

<b>Click on the YouTube video below to find out more from Google, explaining the experiment:</b>

<fb:swf

swfbgcolor=”FFFFFF” imgstyle=”border-width:3px; border-color:white;”

swfsrc=’http://www.youtube.com/v/wusklcNKDZc’

imgsrc=’http://img.youtube.com/vi/wusklcNKDZc/2.jpg’

width=’500′ height=’305′ />

</center></td></tr></table>

<fb:share_button>

<meta name=”medium” content=”news”/>

<meta name=”title” content=”Nominate Catawba County for the Google Fiber Experiment”/>

<meta name=”description” content=”"/>

<link rel=”target_url” href=”http://enewsletter.catawbacountync.gov/broadband”/>

</fb:share_button>

7.  After you have entered your code, click “Save Changes” to make the code Live.

8.  If you would like to make your new Static FBML Tab the first tab that users see when they come to your Facebook Page, back to Edit Page, and click “edit” under Wall Settings.  In the “Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else” dropdown, select your new Tab’s name.

9.  If you did not change any of the above provided code, users will see this when they visit your new tab.

If you would like to a finished product of the instructions above, check out Catawba County, North Carolina’s Facebook Page at: http://www.facebook.com/catawbacountync



Google is giving interested municipalities the opportunity to participate in a experiment that could result in much faster Internet connectivity directly to their residents.  March 26th is the magic date that Google will stop taking suggestions from municipalities and residents to bring a Fiber network to their community.  This initiative from Google is interesting especially in my part of the world where both Google and Apple have decided to set up shop with massive data centers to host new technologies.  Less than a month ago Governor Bev Perdue announced that North Carolina will receive $28.2M for broadband recovery [see post] which makes this announcement from Google, a great way to marry the two projects.

Here is the link to the Google “Google Fiber for Communities” page where you can let Google know that you would like to take advantage of their experiment in your community: http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi

Here is the YouTube video from Google, explaining the experiment:

I heard about Foursquare for the first time when I attended a Web 2.0 Conference in NYC in November.  It’s a website/mobile app that allows you to “check in” at different places.  The more you “check in”, the more points you get.  The main point of sites like Foursquare and Gowalla is to connect people to other people and places.  It also allows business owners to help people find their business by adding a location to the site for free. Like many other web 2.0 sites/services Foursquare and Gowalla allows you can connect to Twitter , Facebook , and even your email to see if any of your friends are already using their service.

Here are some locations that I like:
Seize The Photo Photography: http://foursquare.com/venue/774873
Catawba County Government Center:
Foursquare: http://foursquare.com/venue/774903
Gowalla: http://gowalla.com/spots/456493
Olde Hickory Tap Room: http://foursquare.com/venue/435478
Christ United Methodist Church: http://foursquare.com/venue/783052
Lee Yount:
Foursquare: http://foursquare.com/user/leeyount
Gowalla: http://gowalla.com/users/leeyount

“New 480-mile fiber-optic network will create more than 230 jobs”

What’s the News?

“Gov. Perdue today announced that MCNC has received $28.2 million in broadband funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to build a 480-mile fiber-optic network for the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN).  The design, construction and operation of the network are estimated to create more than 230 engineering and construction jobs.  In addition, the network has the potential to serve more than 1,500 school and community institutions, 180,000 businesses and more than 300,000 underserved families.”

Who will benefit from this added infrastructure?

“The new fiber build will traverse 37 counties in North Carolina.  Counties in eastern N.C. include: Beaufort, Bladen, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Edgecombe, Greene, Harnett, Johnston, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Pitt, Robeson, Wake, and Wilson. In the west, counties include: Alexander, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Iredell, Jackson, Lincoln, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Polk, Rutherford, and Transylvania.”

Read the entire Press Release: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/NewsItems/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?newsItemID=875