Pearls Before Breakfast. An “experiment” wherein the Washington Post asked Joshua Bell, world-renowned violinist and prodigy, to don street clothes and play a set at a Capitol Hill metro stop. (Via David Russell.)
[Spoiler below.]
In preparing for this event, editors at The Post Magazine discussed how to deal with likely outcomes. The most widely held assumption was that there could well be a problem with crowd control: In a demographic as sophisticated as Washington, the thinking went, several people would surely recognize Bell. Nervous “what-if” scenarios abounded. As people gathered, what if others stopped just to see what the attraction was? Word would spread through the crowd. Cameras would flash. More people flock to the scene; rush-hour pedestrian traffic backs up; tempers flare; the National Guard is called; tear gas, rubber bullets, etc.
The “Flop of L’Enfant Plaza” went nothing like that:
As it happens, exactly one person recognized Bell, and she didn’t arrive until near the very end.
The article is brilliant(!), and well-worth the read.
Coda: Master The Editor. Some quick tips from stevenf of Panic on how to take advantage of Coda’s editor mode, including this little tidbit:
[…] yes, we expect to add support for plug-ins, scripts, and more in the not-too-distant future. There just wasn’t time to get them into 1.0.
It’s very good to hear/read that. I’ve been messing with Coda all week and have come to realize it’s potential is very much dependent on its flexibility.
I had need today to serve a separated RSS feed of just my blog articles – sans links and quick-posts. At first I thought I’d simply duplicate my RSS template and call it something like rss-blog.php.
Yeah right. Not with ExpressionEngine and its support for URL segment conditionals around. Ladies and gentlemen, pay attention, because this is all it took: if segment_3 != 'blog'
Now, the when the URL is http://seansperte.com/rss/blog I can show unique content by placing it inside the if statement, like so:
- weblog="blog1{if segment_3 != 'blog'}|blog2{/if}"
See how that works? See how easy?
Panic - Coda - One-Window Web Development for Mac OS X. Whoa is right.
[…] one day, it hit us: our web workflow was wonky. […] “This could be easier,” we realized. “And much cooler.”
UPDATE: I don’t know how you could not be impressed with this software. Having just spent the last hour inspecting every nook and cranny, I can honestly say it’s a winner. In fact, it’s more than a winner, it’s a champion. I said it on Cabel’s blog (in the comments), but I’ll say it again: my little world has been changed this day.
UPDATE 2: Yeah, that’s more like it! John Hicks on Coda:
Coda has won me over like no other Mac App has done before.
[This article has been updated after Twitter made some changes to the semantics of their services, especially regarding “friends” and notifications.]
That’s the question that everyone’s been asking and trying to answer for a year. What, exactly, is Twitter? Or, even better, why should you care?
It’s been labeled as web-based chat, microblogging, and “mobile social software”. John Gruber, web and technology pundit, said, “Twitter is to IM and SMS what weblogs were to email and Usenet”, while critics say it’s just another social networking website, or an added distraction in an already over-distracted culture.
I think Twitter is more than all that – or at least the idea behind Twitter is.
The basics
Twitter, at the core, is a method of communication. It is, in fact, not a new method, but it’s a simple one. What makes it special is the mobile support, wherein a user can interact with Twitter via SMS.
Before I go further, let’s look at what protocols (or methods) Twitter uses. There are three main ones:
- Web
- IM
- Mobile
All three protocols allow you to answer the question, “What are you doing?” and have it posted on your Twitter profile page (and, as I’ll show you, also forwarded onto those “following” you). To answer, simply text-message, IM or enter into web-form field whenever – or wherever – you want.
Once you’ve sent your update (also known as “status” or “tweet” or a number of other terms relating), it appears on your Twitter profile page, and is automatically forwarded to other users who’ve chosen to follow you. This is where it gets a little tricky, though, because not everyone who choses to follow you will also chose to be notified. But I’m getting ahead of myself …
Followers
There are two levels of Twitter profiles: public and private. A public profile is viewable online by everyone, but that user’s updates only get forwarded directly to users who follow them. A private profile is only viewable by those who’re set as friends by the owner of the profile. By default, a profile is set as public.
Following is inherently one-way – meaning if you choose to follow someone, you’ll receive their updates, but they won’t receive yours … that is, until they’ve reciprocally chosen to follow you.
Additionally, if you set your profile to private, you must approve followers. Once you do, the account relationship is automatically set both-ways and you’ll not only allow that follower to receive your updates, but you’ll also receive theirs.
If, say, you’ve chosen to follow a person but no longer wish to receive their updates on your phone or IM, you can set unique notification preferences to off. Their Twitter updates will still appear on your profile, and they will remain a followee (or friend) of yours.
It’s important to note, now, that most (if not, all) handling of relationships and updates can be done via mobile phone using simple, natural commands. For example, if I wanted to turn off all notifications because I was in a meeting, I’d I’d simply text: off. Twitter will cease sending me any updates until I turn notifications back on.
To add a new followee, I simply text follow [username]. To invite a non-Twitter member: invite [10-digit phone number]. To turn off all notifications: off. Almost every function you’d need to be have mobile access to, you do.
You can even send a private message to a friend from a mobile phone, even if you don’t have their number. This came in handy for me while I was in Austin last month for SXSW. I was able to stay in constant communication with people I’d only met online and whose numbers I didn’t have, all through Twitter.
So what?
As I said, all this stuff isn’t really new. Twitter doesn’t bring innovation to the table so much as new interaction with innovation. What’s causing Twitter’s astronomical growth must have something to do with the uses people are coming up with for it. As a church staff member, I can think of at least a half-dozen off the top of my head!
- Communication with members
- Communication with staff and pastors
- Prayer alerts
- Thought of the day from pastor
- Mission trip communication (Twitter supports international numbers, too!)
- Multi-site service coordination (we’re already testing this possible use out)
- Small group leader can keep in touch with members
- Volunteer network can receive updates of schedule or procedure
John Edwards, politician and presidential candidate, is on Twitter. Fox News and The Wall Streen Journal tweet their headlines. Heck, even Santa’s Twittering now!
Twitter’s API has even made possible some cool third-party applications: Twittervision, Twitterholic, Twitter Tools, and Twitterific, to name a few.
You get the point.
It’s my opinion that anyone wanting to take advantage of web, mobile or new media technology needs to get on the Twitter bandwagon – if for no other reason, for research and ideas. Like I said, the idea behind Twitter is one that I think will drive a new wave of social interaction.
Besides that, though, it’s just plain fun.
Resources
