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November 26, 2008
Twitter Following Policy
I've been using Twitter more and more. It's another reason why blogging at this blog has sagged in the past year. Some of the ideas I might have posted here are instead ending up at Twitter, which is quicker and easier than posting here. Plus, now that I've tied together Twitter and Facebook so that my Twitter posts also publish as my Facebook status, I might have a bigger audience at Twitter/Facebook than I do here.
I still haven't quite figured out when I want to follow people at Twitter. I do check the Twitter feed a few times a day, but I can get overwhelmed when I follow someone who is tweeting his/her life. So, after trying a few different combinations, I pruned my list of people I'm following down to a fairly small number. Reflecting on this group, I've noticed that all but 2 of them are people I've known for a decade or more. (The other 2 are blogging buddies that I frequently connect with). This is in contrast with Facebook or LinkedIn, where my friending standards are much more inclusive. It turns out that for Twitter, I've implicitly decided to track only a fairly small sphere of my broader social network. There may be a research paper on the topic of how and why people decide to define their social networks differently in different social networking sites.
When I was looking into people who had Twitter accounts, I was surprised by the number of my friends who had invitation-only Twitter accounts (i.e., their tweets aren't public; you need permission to see them). Even if I wanted to do so, I feel somewhat forward asking to join this inner circle unless they are a really, really close friend. (Otherwise, it's like I may be intruding into a private conversation where I may not be welcome). So the protection system acts as another psychological barrier to following friends.
Posted by Eric at 08:48 PM | Blogosphere Issues | TrackBack
November 24, 2008
Jacob's Sixth Birthday Party Pictures
Lisa has posted some photos from Jacob's 6th birthday party to Flickr, including photos of the carousel cake, face painting and various games organized by Grandpa Howard. Who can resist Dina with a rainbow on her face?
Posted by Eric at 07:29 AM | Family & Friends | TrackBack
November 23, 2008
Betty James, RIP
Betty James, wife of the Slinky inventor and president of the Slinky company for four decades, died last week. I didn't get a chance to meet her (although I do have a slinky with her autograph, given to me by her son), but I remain grateful for all she did to build up the Slinky empire and spread joy through the world. The Altoona paper's obituary. The NY Times obituary.
Posted by Eric at 08:17 PM | Slinky | TrackBack
November 22, 2008
Flexibility of JD Overstated
Leigh Jones from the National Law Journal writes:
Law schools and placement professionals frequently tout the versatility of a law degree as a path to alternative careers. But even in good economic times, the advantage of a juris doctor degree in landing a job in another field may well be overblown....The upshot for many is that, while they appreciate the knowledge they gained, they find that they are no more marketable — and sometimes less — than if they'd avoided the law school ordeal altogether.
Posted by Eric at 07:07 PM | Legal Education Industry | TrackBack
November 10, 2008
Lisa's Thanksgiving Spinning Mix
With suggestions in response to my call for help on Twitter/Facebook and some expert input from an unnamed but very knowledgeable and loving supporter, Lisa put together a spinning mix for Thanksgiving. The mix:
1 - Linus & Lucy, Vince Guaraldi Trio
2 - Homeward Bound [Live], Simon & Garfunkel
3 - We Are Family, Sister Sledge
4 - Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie, Jay & the Techniques [just try to get this song out of your head!]
5 - (Do The) Mashed Potatoes, the Undertakers' cover version of a James Brown song
6 - Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes), Dee Dee Sharp
7 - Feelin' Satisfied, Boston
8 - Holiday, Madonna
9 - Cold Turkey, John Lennon [this is a song about heroin withdrawal, but it works just about as well as a cautionary tale for eating undercooked turkey]
10 - Heavy Action (Theme from Monday Night Football)
11 - Everybody Eats When They Come to My House, Cab Calloway
12 - Fat Bottomed Girls, Queen
13 - Thank You, John Mellencamp
14 - Fast Hopi Drums
15 - Thank You, Alanis Morissette
16 - Turkey In The Straw (symphonic version)
17 - Our House, Crosby Stills Nash & Young
18 - Amazing Grace, Elvis Presley version [there are a lot of versions of this song, but can you really do better than The King?]
19 - Thanksgiving, George Winston
I know it's a little early, but Happy Thanksgiving!