A Human Element In The Digital Realm

Bits-n-Bytes.

I've been thinking for some time now that things have been somewhat different in the digital arena... seems like there's something missing, or perhaps there's just less of it and when you see it, it's more apparrent or obvious. I'm talking about the human element. It's that essence which separates the "wheat from the chaff." It is evident in the threads that weave a social fabric that keeps us warm, gives us protection, and transcends the boundaries of location, time or language. You know it when you see it. That little bit of humanity that can't be easily replicated by a device or software algorhythm. Don't get me wrong, I love machines, robots, and artificial intelligence — but they just don't have that element.

Here's some relevant sounds to groove on while you read the post...

Anti-Social Media: Signal or Noise?

I've noticed the lack of that human element most in social media. Seems like folks are more focussed on followers, +1's and likes than in actual participation the game: the fun stuff, the sharing, the  "Hey, how you doin'? Long time no speak..." or witty writings on my wall, and engaging with others. We become the proverbial "rats running races." Yeah, everybody's busy, and I'm guilty of some of it from time to time too. Yup. But I work long hours at my full-time job and try to do side projects whenever I can. I do my reading and try to stay on top of trends and everything new. Add to that all the family stuff, chores, errands and things that just seem to swallow-up any remaining time that's left over. That said, I still I try hard not to make a habit of it and I always try to be myself, be inclusive and stay sincere.

What, Me Worry?

Sometimes I get discouraged and think, "why bother logging in" and wonder if it's "time to get off the social grid." Most of the time I just don't think about it... I generally don't worry about the missing human aspect, but as I said before, I do make an effort to not add to the problem. Nope. Not me. Just like James Brown, 'I'm gonna get-up and do my thang.'

The Human Element is Alive and Kicking.

In the last few weeks I've had the pleasure of seeing that element rise-up and brighten my day. At the end of the day for me it's not really about click-throughs, SEO link-juice, a Klout score, or being the Mayor of FarmVille. Don't get me wrong, that stuff matters too. I love a momentous mention here and there, a bunch of re-tweets, any +1's I can get my mouse on, those funky #FollowFridays... I can't imagine a month without a luscious like now and again. It's just different I guess.

Sometimes, You Get What You Give. 

It's that super-sauce. That dash of goodness sprinkled on it that makes the meal so tasty. The 80/20 rule is in a full frontal attack, yet a subtle signal of secret sauce remains among the nasty noise in the digital realm. Tough to find it, but lately I've enjoyed the luxury of that 20% that has the human element. Once in a while, you get the good stuff. It's the stuff that builds a great brand. Honesty, credibility, integrity, loyalty... keeps 'em coming back for more. With that in mind, here are some folks that are doin' things right and shining bright despite the plight:

Codiqa
http://codiqa.com
@codiqa

Buffer
http://bufferapp.com
@bufferapp

reelSEO
http://www.reelseo.com
@reelseo

GoPro
http://gopro.com
@GoPro

MixyTV
http://mixy.tv
@mixytv

DreamHost
http://dreamhost.com
@DreamHost

LiveFyre
http://livefyre.com
@Livefyre

Sokanu
http://sokanu.com
@sokanu

Inanimatt
http://inanimatt.com
@inanimatt

Formulate
http://formulate.com.au
@Formulate

Zerply
http://zerply.com
@zerply

Thanks for making it more than just another rat race folks :)

FreePoverty.com - Knowing Helps...

WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE?

See how many cups of water you can donate by testing your knowledge about the world. Each correct answer means we will be donating 10 cups of water on your behalf. The number of cups of water donated on your behalf depends on how accurate your answer is. Once you have located one city or landmark, another location will be shown to you.

You may play the game however many times you wish. Of course, the more you play and the more you are correct, the greater difference you will make with your donation. If your answer is correct, 10 cups of water will be donated. The further away you are from the location, the number of cups will decrease. If your answer is nowhere near the exact location, no cups of water will be donated. Therefore by playing this game, not only are you doing a good deed for others, but you are also gaining knowledge for yourself. Good luck, and have some fun -- it feels good to help someone!


FACTS ON POVERTY

Every day, at least 30,000 people around the world die from poverty; most of whom are under five years of age. They die because they are undernourished, and do not have enough food or water to survive. More than 800 million people go hungry every day. This is 13% of the world population. How can you help? By playing this game on FreePoverty.com, each answer you get correct, 10 cups of water will be donated. Somewhere in the world, someone will receive it. And it will make a difference to their day.


WHY WATER?

70% of a human being is made up of water. Water is the second most essential element for survival, after oxygen. Over one billion people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water; hence, causing them to develop deadly diseases. Moreover, without water, the brain is not able to function properly. One cup of water can make difference to someone's day. FreePoverty allows you to donate as many cups of water as you can to save millions of people.


MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FreePoverty.com

FreePoverty intends to do the same, and they want you to contribute. By testing your basic knowledge on their map, each correct answer means you will be donating 10 cups of water. FreePoverty chose water as their primary source of donation, because it is something that all human beings need to survive. Around the world, there are too many people who don't have access to clean drinking water; thus causing various illnesses. With your contribution, FreePoverty may be one drop closer to ending poverty and making the world a better place.

Cool Tool: MeetInBetween.Us

"Okay, I'll meet you half-way there..."
Simple problem, simple (yet sophisticated) solution. I was doing my morning surfing and reading tweets on my Twitter [Follow me @ptamaro] and I saw a tweet by @kyleplacy with the URL for MeetInBetween.Us and decided to check it out. I'm really glad I did because this is a really helpful app that takes two locations and finds a central location to meet, and presents you with places to meet by category.

How does it work?
For example, I want to meet my friend from Providence, RI for coffee next week so I type that location in and then type Boston, MA as my second location. I'm presented with Sharon, MA as the central location and categories like food, coffee, bar, hotel, mall, etc. and then it gives you places to meet based on the topic you choose. Simple, huh? It also gives you directions on how to get there from each starting location. In addition. it gives you a a nice short link to the map and location so you can share it with the other person.

Results, plain and simple.
How about coffee at the Starbucks at 5 Post Office Sq #5 in Sharon, MA on Wednesday evening around eight? Let me know if that works for you, either way... I'll have a Triple Espresso with one sugar please! :-D

Top 10 Benefits of an Online Life

Squeezin' spare time into a busy life
With three very active kids, a full-time job and a few side projects, two cars and a house that are in constant need of repair and maintenance – my spare time is extremely limited, and lately it seems like it's even tougher than ever to find even a few minutes to do things I enjoy doing like blogging and reading blogs or trying to develop my artistic skills by doing purely creative stuff....

Enter the social space
Using online tools like Twitter, Flickr, Social|Median, FriendFeed, etc. etc. etc., and my favorite RSS feed reader is the only way for me to actually keep-up with the virtual onslaught of new and interesting products and services on the web. If you're a dog, you should be eating your own dog food AND the dog food others are cookin' up. That said, I've been using all sorts of services for years because I feel really strongly that:

• "You need to use it to design it effectively..."


• it's an easy and enjoyable way to stay on top of trends and try to become (or hopefully remain) hip...


• it helps you develop, respect, and maintain a healthy "user-centered" design and development approach...


• you meet some very interesting people, and learn a lot along the way...


• it feels good to help others to learn, and spread the love...


• create an online persona and personal brand to extend the "real you" and you might even learn things about yourself you may not have known before...


• gain experience and grow your design & technical capabilities and stay competitive...


• find yourself getting involved in really interesting projects...


• eliminate any possibility of becoming bored...


• it's a LOT of fun!

Props to some of "my peeps"
With these things in mind I want to just spread the love for some of the folks that have had a positive impact on my online experience(s). These folks are riding the latest waves and definitely on top of the latest trends. They've also got great insight, they're interesting people, have an active online life, and they will help you keep the creative juices flowing if you're stuck in a creative rut. I especially like the funny tweets, and interesting links. Twitter is and has always been lots of fun as well as one of my favorite services and sources of inspiration, so I'll start there. Here are some folks* you should really consider paying attention to and following:

• Orli


• imjustcreative


• adellecharles


• justcreative


• socialmedian


• chriscoyier


• pglyman


• beckychr007


• fermion


• Kitta


• hellyeahdude


• smashingmag


• fubiz


• Photoshop_GU


• aaronv


• cookbook


• hoshposh


• You?

*I do plan on adding to this list when I get more time — it's not everyone so sorry if I have not mentioned you yet. Also, If you want me to follow you just follow me and feed us some juicy tweets. If you are on this list and you'd rather not be, just let me know.

More to come soon I hope
Okay , that's all I have time for rite now, but I'll try to add to this soon... I'm off to the library to see if we can find some Babar books at the Library and drop the big girls off in the center.

Free TV For Your High-Speed Connection

Remember "Hawaii Five-O", "The Twilight Zone", "Adam 12", "The Addams Family", and "Lou Grant"? I've been a huge fan of Hawaii Five-O for years and I only have about 27 episodes taped on VHS (yes, they're less-than-optimal but still worthy of watching — no commercials). I remember staying-up late to catch the re-runs at 3-AM whenever I could. Well, with more TV and media being offered online and cheaper high-speed connections, it's getting easier to get your "TV Mojo on" and soak up that video-goodness whenever you want.

I was really pumped when I clicked a Google advertisement and found FanCast (owned by Comcast Interactive) which has lots of really juicy old TV gems available online for free. I'm a happy Verizon customer so the site is new to me....

It's really cool to be able to re-watch stuff from way back in my childhood, catch-up on shows I've never seen before, and save favorites and share 'em with others. The only downside so far is that you are forced to watch commercials before and during the shows.

It's like Hulu and they get some content from Hulu. Fancast's got lots of the old stuff all in one place, but Hulu's interface is slick and intuitive. Also, Hulu's got great features like subscriptions, a queue, and the privacy settings are really nice. Another cool thing about Hulu is that there's much more than just old TV shows. Hulu also has really nice HD content if you're got the hardware to support it. The Nature and Documentary content is really captivating if you have a large display.

Re-cast from the past
My all-time favorite broadcast from the past is Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980). I really love the twisted plot lines, strong character development and cast, visual style — everything about the show. I'm going to start watching the episodes I've never seen before first. Here's a little taste from one of the best television "Cop shows" of all time...

Hawaii Five-O
Some Day We Shall Be Strangers in Our Own Land

A native's love of his unspoiled homeland, a mysterious woman with a camera, a man with a briefcase, and a millionaire industrialist are pieces of the strange puzzle confronting McGarrett - 51:13 minutes

Cool Tool: VectorMagic

A few weeks ago, my co-worker DH sent me an IM "Have you seen this?" with the URL for Stanford's Vector Magic Online Bitmap to Vector Project. I was busy when he sent it and only just gave the site a quick visit, a bookmark and figured I'd visit again and blog it when I had more time.

Wow, this is an extremely cool tool! In a nutshell, The site converts bitmap images to vector art for you. It's an "online auto-tracer" built using Adobe's Flex2. To use it, just upload your image or photo, and the tool will create vectors for you. You can then save your vector art to EPS, SVG, or PNG format. You can use VectorMagic to process your image and then tweak the results as needed as well, this keeps all the heavy processing on their end, and you can focus on the fun stuff! Vectors are scalable because they are "geometric primitives" made-up of points, lines, curves and polygons — whereas raster graphics are a "map of pixels" (hence the name "Bit Map", or BMP). Vector files are also smaller in file size, and they can be scaled without a loss of quality. Find out more info on vector graphics on Wikipedia.

Here's an example of my first VectorMagic output. I took my avatar and ran it through their tool and got great results. Then I was able to play around with the SVG output to size my avatar as needed. I have the original Photoshop file so I can do that anyway, but this machine is getting old and slow, so it's nice to have a backup option. They also make it really easy to share your results to help spread the good word (you can play with my vectors made by VectorMagic, but my artwork is ©2006ptamaro so don't use it for your own purposes).

Also, if you don't have the original artwork in a vector format you won't be able to get good results if you need to change any of the elements, colors or size. In this case, you can vectorize the rastered artwork and then use the vectors to make the changes you need. Have fun, and let me know what you think of it!

    » Visit VectorMagic