Get the Flip Away - You

Forget del.icio.us and Digg, put Facebook and MySpace aside - the real big hitter of the new social web is TinyURL and the various clones floating around the web.

Thanks to the massive success of Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku and even Twit Army (running Laconica - short URL services are in high demand.

I mean - how are you supposed to share a link with someone, given that the vast majority of sites are now using CPS systems (like Wordpress) that lead to long URLs, when the URL itself is longer than the 140 character limit.

So you can get a bit of text before the URL ShortURL services are used to … well shorten the URL. In fact every post on UpYourEgo has a short URL automatically generated on the right hand menu for that post.

And TinyURL now lets you create personalised URLs as well - I recently created one for the new Top Trumps show on five (that I wanted to post to Twitter) and was able to use tinyurl.com/toptrumpsd5 and even more recently I used tinyurl.com/deadyet for a link to a funny site about the Large Hadron Collider.

The problem with this though is that all the useful urls will be gone pretty quickly and then you’ll be left with a selection of choices that may as well just be random.

There is also the chance that 1) the site hosting the URL could give up, get bored, shut down or go out of business and 2) they could start charging for custom URLs or even random ones (although this is unlikely as people don’t like paying for things on the web).

Recently, during a debate on the merits of microblogging - Leo Laporte, one of the hardest working men in the world of online video streaming, suggested that as sites like Twitter grow to a point of unsustainability - it would be better to host communities around a product/idea/service or brand and have them all linked together.

So he launched Twit Army - this is for fans of the Twit Network to use as their social networking service and I believe your posts can also be published on Twitter.

So, using the GNU licenced Laconica software I could set up my own microblogging platform at nuts.upyourego.com that automatically re-posted to Twitter and everywhere else - as well as letting users of the EgoNuts platform communicate in a more specialised environment.

I’m not going to because, my theory is that about 3% of the readers of a blog or listeners of a podcast would actually join an associated community - in which case that would probably be me and my dad.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t played with the idea of a Microblogging platform - I recently launched JerseyGuardian.co.uk - a simple microblogging site for people in Jersey to post what is on their mind right now - using Wordpress as a platform.

I’ll write a post specifically about this another time as it requires more explanation than a couple of paragraphs I’m giving it here - but check it out and let me know what you think.

What I have done is launched my own ShortURL site at gtfa.eu or Get the Flip (yes Flip!) Away - You.

It’s a pretty simple interface - you put your long URL in the top box, enter a word (or not - you don’t have to) and click generate.

Underneath it will give you a short url - either to your specification or as a random sequence of numbers - your choice really.

I might develop it more (it’s using some of the shelf code I found online) but as it does what I wanted it to do - I’m happy leaving it as is right now - although I’ll probably replace TinyURL with GTFA on the right hand side shortURL box on this site.

I’d love your feedback.

Share/Save

Cleaning out the drafts

I have a pretty rigid routine for checking the web every morning. I always visit the same sites in more or less the same order - usually after checking my e-mail.

The routine basically involves going through message boards, blogs, news sites, reading columnists and visiting various other websites I’m into.

While I’m going through all these sites I’m making a note of things that spark my interest (I should probably add them to delcious but I never remember) so that I can do something with them later.

And then I open Wordpress. When I have Wordpress open I write new posts around the ideas and things I gathered during my morning trek.

But I don’t. I write a headline, I add a weblink and sometimes I even get as far as writing a couple of paragraphs - but I rarely ever actually finish them.

It’s got so bad that until a few minutes ago I had hundreds of draft posts just sitting there unlikely to ever be completed - but because I’m an ADHD, OCD riddled geek I couldn’t bring myself to delete them.

Well I’ve finally done it - I’ve gone from having hundreds of draft posts to just five draft posts. And as soon as I click publish - five will become four.

The other four posts I’ll be writing at some point (hopefully before I forget why I’ve saved them) are:
Bloggers: Saviours of local news?, Jelly as an art form?, Earning man points and British Cultural Expansion.

I think they fit the brief I’ve set myself with Up Your Ego, basically to ‘create a guide to surviving life in the 21st century’.

And in the meantime - I’ll try and remember to add my ideas to Twitter and Delicious instead of creating draft blog posts nobody will ever see!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Revive Your Blog With Custom Wordpress Themes!
• How To Get Users To Your Website
• What kind of support can I find in London Ontario for Special needs children both social and educational ?
• Learning The Hard Way
• Learn How to Make a Blog for Greater Online Success

Share/Save

Social media festival coverage

Let me tell you about my weekend and the reason I haven’t blogged much in a few days. It all starts with an ftp client and a wristband.

[Read more]

Share/Save

Kryten is on Twitter

I’m like most people who use Twitter - I have a love hate relationship with it. My divide falls along the lines of loving how easy it makes spouting bollocks and I hate how addictive it can get.

The other thing I hate is how often it seems to not be working, how for what seemed like several generations of time, it wouldn’t let me check responses or look at older posts.

I hate the stupid whale.

But there is more to love - especially now I’ve discovered Ping.fm that automatically lets me post the same comment to Pounce, Jaiku, Twitter, Facebook and others.

What I also love is that more people are suddenly discovering Twitter - people both famous and funny, not famous and funny and just plain dull but worthy.

The latest discovery - I say discovery but that’s only because I’ve just found him - is Robert Llewellyn - his posts have been pretty much about the mundanity of his life so far.

It’s not just his life though - it’s HIS LIFE - it’s about the projects he is currently working on and gives you an insight into the behind the scenes of a British geek icon.

This guy played a robot in the greatest sci-fi comedy in televisual history.

It’s KRYTEN and he’s on Twitter - how cool is that. It’s so tough to contain my childhood fanboyness - I was in the fan club, I obsessed over this series as a teenager - it was a big part of my teen years.

Fortunately I don’t obsess like that any more - ok so I might have every book by each of the three Top Gear presenters, I might have print outs of all their columns, I might have every Top Gear DVD released, I might have every Clarkson, Hammond and May DVD (TG related or not) and I might have it all organised alphabetically - but thats just a normal geek obsession.

I have a similar one, although not as extreme for Doctor Who - the toys are for my children - honest!

Robert Llewellyn has always been a cutting edge British celeb - he was at the forefront of online video before it became fashionable, he had a website and posted content before blogs and podcasts were an essential part of modern broadcast.

So it makes sense he is on Twitter. The question is who will be the next celebrity British geek to take the plunge - I’m thinking it will be Dave Gorman or Danny Wallace and would be first in line to follow Stephen Fry or Ricky Gervais.

In fact if Fry or Gervais ever sign up you could probably say goodbye to Twitter but it would be worth it for the five posts they’d get out before it dropped dead.

Now Robert only had 76 followers at the time of posting - he deserves more - he’s a legend. So go follow him at twitter.com/bobbyllew.

Oh and it looks like he’s a Twit fan - he follows both Twit Live and Leo Laporte so if by some small miracle Leo ever reads this - get Robert on the show as he would be amazing.

Share/Save

@Twitter

OK I know it’s all fashionable and cool to write about Twitter, push your Twitter address and generally prostitute yourself in the name of publicity - but I’m still going to do it. [Read more]

Share/Save

Talk to me, Talk to me

Considering I’m an overweight geek with buck teeth - I think my current drive towards video is an odd one. We’ll now I’ve added more video and you’re invited to join.
[Read more]

Share/Save

5 random tracks

My best friend - Weezer
Still take you home - Arctic Monkeys
The dreaming tree - Dave Matthews Band
Who are you - The Who
The card cheat - The Clash

[Read more]

Share/Save

I’m pretty big around here!

When will I, will I be famous - I can’t answer, I can’t answer that. Well actually now you can - you just need to add up all the unique subscribers over all your social media outlets.

[Read more]

Share/Save

Managing my virtual life

I’m sure I’ve mentioned my addiction to social networks before - I’m signed up to dozens of them and am even active on a few - but keeping track of them all takes more time in the morning than email!

[Read more]

Share/Save