This past Friday I had the opportunity to host the first episode of “New Stuff” on TheMESH.tv.

The MESH is a new media online network, designed to produce and deliver unique content to computers, mobile phones, iPods, iPads, and any other device connected to the Internet.  Just like a traditional television network, The MESH has a series of programs and “shows” on a variety of topics… the difference is you can watch or listen to what you want, when you want, and where you want.

On this episode of New Stuff Chad Austin of Chad Austin Marketing and Media Design (www.chadaustin.com), Terry Bledsoe, Chief Information Officer for Catawba County, North Carolina (www.catawbacountync.gov), and Alan Jackson with Jackson Group Interactive(www.jginteractive.com) joined me to talk about social media, technology, mobile devices and other gadgets!  The topics for this first episode include the current status of Google+, recent Facebook announcements, iPhone 5 rumors, and Google Wallet.+

Listen to the first episode here:

• iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-stuff/id467909880
• RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/new-stuff
• The Mesh – New Stuff Page: http://themesh.tv/new-stuff/

Tune in on 9/19-22/2011 at 1:pm EDT for the second annual Social Good Summit presented by Mashable, 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, and sponsored by Ericsson.

Make sure to keep up with the latest developments at the event by following #socialgood on Twitter.

Twitter handles for partners and the sponsor of the event include:

@mashable
@unfoundation
@92y
@ericsson

[UPDATE] Agenda for Sessions: http://mashable.com/sgs/agenda/

If you have not heard about Google + by now, this article will probably not interest you very much, or it might inspire you to join the millions (including myself) that have turned to Facebook, Twitter, and any other communication means, asking for a Google+ invitation.

Google’s clever, “invite only” way of launching many of their products has the ability to instantly create enough interest in their products that defines the very theory of supply and demand.  This time they might have a winner as opposed to the most recent product launches such as Wave and BUZZ.

A lot of people have been comparing Google+ to Facebook since it’s launch.  I have to say it is very similar, much like Facebook when it first began, but with more features.  Below is an infographic from Technobombs comparing Google+ and Facebook.

What do you think about Google+?  Will you be using using it?  Will you be replacing Facebook with Google + or do you think it is just another poor attempt at a “Facebook Killer”?

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.

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 have a handful of Google Wave Invites if you are looking for one drop me an email at LeeqDMB@gmail.com

If you would like to know more about Google Wave, check out The Complete Guide to Google Wave

If you already have a Google Wave account and would like to wave to me, you can add me to your contact list at LeeqDMB@gmail.com

Check out some cool Google Wave extensions at: Click Here

This is a photo of the URL for #w2e attendees to get a Google Wave invite.

• CSS3 info: http://www.css3.info/
• HTML5 Demos: http://www.html5demos.com
• Makers of 280 Slides: http://www.280north.com
• Yahoo Browser Plus: http://browserplus.yahoo.com/
• Expert Labs: http://expertlabs.org/ @expertlabs
• Code for America: http://codeforamerica.org/ @codeforamerica
• Nicole Sullivan = http://www.stubbornella.org/ @Stubbornella
• The Complete Guide to Google Wave: http://completewaveguide.com/ @ginatrapani
• PubSubHubbub: http://code.google.com/p/pubsubhubbub/
• “The difference between an audience and a community is which way the chairs are turned.” @ChrisBrogan