studionashvegas | design and social media

Note:
I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with any of the things I talk about –
this is just me putting information out there to think about, and you
can make your own decisions about it.  You’re not sheep – I won’t treat
you as such.

Isn’t it ironic that we have a bit of a double-sided coin going on the Internet at the moment.  There’s a huge debate going on between Apple and Google, Flash and HTML5, over proprietary software.  People are clamoring for Apple to open up their platforms to allow all types of programming (Flash, specifically) instead of closing their boxes.  So, what do people do?  They tweet about it.

On the flip side, those tweets you’re sending out can now be used (and monetized) by twitter for any purpose whatsoever.  What’s more, is that if you post a tweet on your site, and it causes you to get ad revenue, Twitter is legally entitled to a share of that, because you are re-purposing their content:

In cases where Twitter content is the basis (in whole or in part) of the
advertising sale, we require you to compensate us (recoupable against
any fees payable to Twitter for data licensing).

Scary stuff, eh? Your tweets, open to the free world, can now be used by Twitter for anything, including making money.  Makes you want to read those TOS clauses more closely.

So, I want to know what you think.  Where do you stand on either front?  Sure, Apple makes more money locking it’s hardware down… or does it?  Or, should Twitter really have as much power as it seems to with it’s latest Terms of Use update?

If you’ve been following me on Twitter lately, you may have noticed that I’ve nearly completely ditched Windows all together.  I wanted to see if (without missing a beat work-wise) I could switch my laptop over to Linux, and virtualize any pieces of the puzzle that I can’t do natively in Linux.

After nearly a full week, I can safely say that I haven’t looked back.

The process was really simple:

1. I backed up all of my files to a hard disk
2. I downloaded, burnt, and rebooted into the Ubuntu 10.04 Live CD.
3. I replaced the main partition of my laptop with Ubuntu and booted up for the first time.
4. I installed Virtualbox and installed a copy of Windows 7, just for a few select programs.

Honestly, it was cake after that – everything has worked out perfectly, and the content-consuming part of my live has gotten so much easier.  I use Windows 7 for 3 2 program (sets): Adobe CS4, Live Writer, and iTunes (turns out Rhythmbox is not only capable of syncing to the iPhone, but it’s faster).

So, yeah – everything works, it’s super fast, and I won’t look back.  Once I figure out how to install Adobe Suite and LiveWriter (or an appropriate equivalent) then I’ll stop using Windows altogether.

I do have one complaint: Linux blogs are all ugly, minus a select few – come on guys, Linux does not have to be ugly – look at Ubuntu, after all!

No, don’t worry, this isn’t one of those esoteric posts to be shared by those who have lived through an event such as 9/11 or whatnot.  This is more like a literal posed question to people who I think deserve to give us an answer. ~Mitch

During and after the flood that hit Nashville in 2010, I stayed glued to WKRN (and the WKRN twitter account) to see what was going on with friends and constituents who were trapped or lost stuff in the flood.

Our local news stations (WKRN, WSMV, and NewsChannel5) did a bang up job keeping everyone informed, up to date, and out of harms way as best as possible.  I mean, when flood waters get into a 500-year flood plain (where floods MIGHT happen once every 500 years) then there’s really only so much planning can do.  But they were vigilant, their news anchors showing signs of fatigue as the night went on.

The twitter stream was on in full force too.  Citizen journalists and news team twitter accounts relayed and received information at supersonic speed.  @tndotcom, @nashvillest, @wkrn and their network of followers spread the news of what was going on to their followers (sometimes) faster than the news stations were.

So… local news stations? A+.  Local Twitter account users? A+.

National Media… White House… Where were you?

It’s 2:15pm CST on May 3rd.  We have only a little coverage on FoxNews and (for most of the morning) neither CNN nor anyone else really was having much to say about it.  Sure, right now there’s concern of the giant gulf oil spill.  I’ll give em that one. But when a bomb almost explodes in New York, a whole day ago, you report on it and go on to something that has a little more meaning.  We had record level flooding, people getting forced out of their homes, and even buildings being swept down major interstates.

Where were you?

We sent a request into the Federal government on Saturday, knowing full well we’d need it after all of the heavy downpours (and we will need help with the rebuilding efforts).

Where were you?

We’ve been watching as friends and family are displaced, sent to shelters, or even lost their lives and livelihoods as the Cumberland river swept over Nashville to levels no one has seen in nearly 80 years.

And what did we get?  2nd billing under a “Happy Birthday Singing Dog” and no word from the Commander-in-Chief.

Where were you?

I guess it’s been enough time to where I can change my question up a bit:

Where are you?

Is it because we’re a red state?  Is it because we aren’t a New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, or other major city?  Is it because we fly under the scandal radar (for the most part) and keep quiet as our citizens prosper and our startups continually do great things?

I do want to go back on a statement I keep hearing: Traditional media is dead – social media is where things are going.  I want to change it a bit:

National media is dead.  Local media, and social media, are the blend of information services we need to survive, and as long as there are television sets we will still rely on our local news teams.

Why? For the same reasons mom-and-pop businesses thrive when chain stores suffer: community.  No one knows our community like we do, and no one knows what we need to hear like the people in it.  Our local news anchors are the community – they live here, they work here, and they have stake in what goes on because its happening to them too.  Some dude sitting at a news desk 1000 miles away – He hasn’t got a clue.

So, hats off to everyone who got us through this mess – i forgot a lot of people, but you know who you are.  And for those of you outside of Nashville that don’t care: yes, we’re still here.  We’re drying out our socks and shoes (and boots) and getting ready to step up and continue to do our thing.

With you, or without you.

Because, the question still bears asking:

Where are you?

Today has been one heck of a whirlwind day.

I stopped by a sushi restaurant in Franklin today to eat lunch with holly when I realized that my inbox had blown up in the 10 minutes between my first meeting and lunch.  All of them were twitter followers, so I checked into Tweetie to see what was up.

Turns out, some people REALLY liked the #failcock design I made a few nights ago.

I am stoaked.  I’ve never had anything like this happen, and i’m literally here shaking with excitement.  I can’t believe a simple little diversion, a fun little art project, turned into this.

Thanks to everyone who has shared this.  It means a lot to me, and I’m glad that so many people have had so many positive things to say about it.

And make sure to watch the show tonight.  What’s happening to Conan O’Brien is unfair, unjust, and I think that whatever he does (*cough* web only show would be awesome *cough*) will be super successful.  Just, make sure that if you’re supporting him now you support him later – he deserves every bit.

So, there’s a new Chic-Fil-A opening up down the road from my house on Thursday morning.  The first 100 people there get a voucher/card/something worth free chick-fil-a for a year.  Now, I’m not one to pass up free food, so anyone who wants to can come down and camp with me.  I’ll have my laptop and some power cables (I hope) so we can have a good ole’ time. 

By the way, at around $5 a meal, every day, that’s about 2200 worth of food.  That means that Chic-Fil-A is giving away at max $22,000 worth of good – not bad for a story that people will tell over, and over, and over to their friends, right?

So, who’s with me?

Photo by Adria Richards

Holly is driving and I’m on the way back home from WordCampAtlanta (well, from staying in Montgomery with her family for a while) and I’m finally getting a chance to reflect and collect my thoughts and what I learned.  WCATL was a fantastic event, and with over 400 people there the number of people I met, saw, and interacted with is too many to put into one post (also, thanks again to everyone who dropped by my presentation – it was a good crowd and I’m glad to hear that you got something out of it!)

But, I’m the first to admit I learn something every time I head to a conference, and this time was no exception. Here are a few of the high points I learned from WordCampAtlanta:

1. WordPress 3.0 is going to be Killer!

Jane Wells (@JaneForShort) gave a fantastic presentation on the future of WordPress, and the future is looking awesome. From the WPMU + WP Merger to a new theme for 3.0, lots of exciting things are in the works.  Her slides are below:

2. The PHP and WordPress communities can learn a lot from each other.

@technosailor gave a fantastic presentation (re: lecture in a discussion-y way) on how the core communities of both the PHP world and the WordPress world could stand to play nicer to each other.  Personally, I think that the problem comes from WP people starting out in WordPress and learning PHP (top down) instead of learning PHP then jumping into WordPress (bottom up). 

3. People will do just about anything for a copy of “Crush It”.

‘Nuff said.

4. The more I talk about WordPress at a conference, the more I realize I know nothing about WordPress.

Getting to meet giants like John Saddington (@Human3rror), talking to Jane Wells, and hearing Mark Jaqueth (@markjaqueth) made me realize that not only do I still have a lot to learn, but by not helping to make WordPress better I am hurting the platform more than I am helping it.  I submitted my first patch to the TRAC, but that’s only a small step in making WordPress even better than it already is.

5. The Atlanta WordPress scene is hopping!

There are a lot of people in Atlanta who are passionate about WordPress, and the community there is fantastic (how could 400 people otherwise justify getting out in the ice and show to come to the SCAD to hear about WordPress, yes?).  I was glad to meet a lot of you, and I hope we can keep in touch.

Let’s be honest – I’m ready to kick 2009 to the curb.  This decade has been deemed by the news agencies as one of the darkest in American history.

But let’s not focus on the negatives – let’s focus on what’s to come.  We stand on the precipice of a new chance, a new start for some, and a new era in technology, media, and humanity.

So, enjoy your day, and get ready to seize the new year with force!

If you didn’t read below, yesterday was my birthday! Holly took me out to a nice dinner and a movie to celebrate, and I had all intention of seeing Sherlock Holmes when I went to the theater.

Until I saw the posters for Avatar in 3D.

I’ll be honest, I had heard about it, but I hadn’t really seen anything about it, so I went in with sort of a blank slate – no preconceived notions, stereotypes, or whatever to guide my thinking.

That being said, this was, by far, one of the most incredible movies I have ever seen.  If you’re wanting to see a movie that redefines 3D, and some of the technology we use to make movies, then this is the one for you.

The hero, Jake, takes over his brother’s “Avatar” – a special husk that can be controlled while the user is asleep using links into the brain and muscular system.  The husk looks like a crossbreed between the human controller and the Na’vi – the natives of the land.

While the transformation is unwilling at first, once Jake meets some more Na’vi, he starts to realize that being human may not be his best (or only) choice.

I walked into the theater not knowing what to expect.  I walked out having experienced a true wonder in movie making.  I can imagine that when people watched “Star Wars” in the theater decades ago they felt like this.

Seriously, if you are looking for a good reason to see a 3D movie, this one’s it.  It’s got great action, great Sci-Fi battle scenes, and the plot (although a little predictable) is fantastically written.

5 Stars, for sure.

Instead, I’m asking all of my friends and followers to help me out with a favor.

Every year I take this time to recognize a special charity that is close to my heart.  Child’s Play Charity is an organization dedicated to providing gaming equipment and toys to hospitals worldwide.  They have over 60 hospitals in their network (Vanderbilt in Nashville is one of their partners, by the way).

If you want to check out what they’re doing, the Child’s Play website has a lot of great information, and lots of game companies are jumping on board with them.

If you have some spare change then please help them out – they do good things, and they need our help!

I’m writing this sitting in a car travelling to Kentucky to my parents house for Thanksgiving.  Isn’t technology fantastic?

It’s been just over two years since I bought my studionashvegas domain and started the twitter account for my business.  It’s been a very interesting two years (to say the least) but if you would have told me two years ago what I would be doing now, I would have probably laughed in your face (or at least, I wouldn’t have believed you).

Most people would use this space to thank people by name (and believe me, I could fill your RSS reader with people who have been both an inspiration and blessing [and when needed, a kick in the pants]) but since there’s so many names to put, I’ll leave it at this:

If you’ve been a client, a contractor, a vendor, a follower on twitter, a facebook friend, or have in any way, shape, form, or fashion had any interaction with me, both good and bad… thank you.  I wouldn’t be where I am without you, an I can only hope that I have (even if it’s in a small way) done the same for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!