Google Friend Connect

Google Friend Connect allows you to do a bit of tribe building by adding social features right on your website or blog. Visitors sign in to their Google, Yahoo, AIM or OpenID account and join your site which is darn handy. No need to set up a different account for each site.

Once a member they can leave comments, review your posts and interact with other members of your site and invite others to come take a gander at your chunk of internet real estate. Pretty spiffy eh?

Of course the one drawback to this might be if you were selling a product on your site that say had a high lead based paint and little Jimmy set about chewing on said product and now has to take the short bus to school. God and everyone would soon be commenting directly on your web site. So take heed! No lead paint!

Livescribe Pulse Smartpen

Was watching one of Ed Dale's videos the other day and he was showing off this amazing new writting system called the Livescribe Smartpen.

Ed being the internet marketing guru that he is was using it to mind map his new 30 Day Challenge Plus course. (Or at least I think he was. I couldn't find that video again to save my soul) He also pointed out what a amazing little gizmo this would be for product/content creation.

Think about it. Say your sell widgets to apple pie bakers. And your company has just made a new breakthrough on apple pie making. The sooner you get this info out to the apple pie bakers the better. Instead of a boring sales letter, or taking a day and a half to make a video. With the Livescribe Smartpen and a few spiffy drawings, notes and you describing the new apple pie widget and why your customers must have it. You could produce a very cool, touchy feelie peice of content while sipping you latte at Starbucks.

The pen records audio and links it real time to what your write. The Pulse Smartpen automatically captures everything you write,draw, scribble. Once done transform your notes into interactive movies and mail your new masterpeice off to all those pie makers! They can even search for words in you new pie widget master plan.

The other cool thing to keep in mind. When all is said and done its a computer. Which means it can run other upcoming applications. Translation programs, games whatever. How cool would it be to be in a country where you don't speak the language, write a note in English and the pen says it in the language that could actually help you find a bathroom before you cause a international incident.

Go have a look here at Amazon. This is very, very cool stuff.

The Caboose On Every Train. Finally on Facebook

Yes, I Scott Conley am truly the caboose on every train. Have you guys heard of this nifty new thing called Betamax?

After weeks, months and years of being asked "are you on Facebook?" I've finally caved and opened a acount.

I have to admit the main reason I didn't sign on earlier was because of who was asking if I was on Facebook. Mainly a few 20 something co workers who I was getting a very drama filled vibe from. Which somewhere in my grey matter triggered a connection to MySpace.
And to be honest my social networking drug of choice for the last three years or so has been 43things

So now when asked "Scott, are you on Facebook" I can proudly say. "Why yes, yes I am!"

Until I signed up on Facebook I was pretty comfortable navigating around any and all web sites. That in mind - I now know how my folks felt when trying to set the clock on the betamax. I'm I getting old, or is it just a weird layout and something I'm not used to? Time will tell...If I ever could ever get that damn clock set on the Betamax!

The Difference Between Women and Men’s Brains

Was checking my Twitter feed just now and looking at who if anyone was following me. Apparently a gentleman named Rob Whisonant is following me.

Rob, I'd just like to get this out of the way...Sorry man.

Anyway I went to Mr. Whisonant's web page and he had this very funny video about the differences of how men and women brains work. Me being me, I glombed onto it and thought I'd share.

Oh, and ladies. You might want to check this one out as well. Might explain a lot. Enjoy.

Comments On

It was brought to my attention that I've had my comments set to off. Just a note... they are now on. Again, not that anyone is reading this but .... well... yeah.

Who to Ask

Was driving through the old neighborhood the other evening looking at the house I lived in when I was a small child. This was the house I lived in from about age 3 - 6. Just around the corner was the house I lived in from before that. So I decided to drive over there and have a look. For the life of me I could'nt remember which one it was. And made a mental note that I would have to ask my dad what the address was sometime.

The thing is my Dad passed away in March. My Mom in 2001. It just hit me there is nobody I could ask about this. Weird, but its as if a little part of my history has died as well.

Saturday At The Swap Meet.

Friday was the fourth of July and my buddy Doug, following in his dad's footsteps has a party every year. Beers cold, food is good and the company great...mostly. As a bonus he lives a quarter mile from where the city shoots off the fireworks and we have a great view from his backyard.

This year I got home about midnight. I'd gone over earlier in the evening and cooked on the grill with my Dad's lady friend. And she mentioned going to the swap meet on Saturday morning and asked if I wanted to go. Having not gone in about 10 years I said sure, what time? She responded by saying, "I'll pick you up at five." I'll let you do the sleep/hangover math there. To be honest I didn't drink very much at all. I think I had three beers in about four hours. Having said that, I rarely ever drink anything.. I was by no means drunk but when I stood up after the fireworks I could tell I'd had something to drink.

Saturday morning 4:30 am

As I said, I got home about midnight and then goofed about on the computer for about a hour. Then hit the bed about 1:00 am. Getting up at 4:30 - the world has a very different look to it. Getting up at 4:30 with three and a half hours of sleep and your not sure your on the same planet you were on when you went to bed.

I'm not sure of the chemical reaction that takes place when you inhale vast amounts of gunpowder and drink a few beers but it does something very cruel to your tongue. I tried brushing. It didn't put a dent in the fuzz that had covered every surface on the inside of my mouth. What finally worked was a Gerber MkII fighting knife dipped into Listerine and allowed to soak while I showered. After the shower I remove d the Gerber and used it to scrape my tongue and then set the residual Listerine in my mouth ablaze. Not only does this chew through any fuzz its better than Red Bull for waking you up.



Saturday 5:30 am

We arrive at the swap meet. Its still dark. Still dark in a part of town that you really don't want to be in when...well, when its still dark. They have the Swap Meet at a old drive in that looks like it was a set in one of the Mad Max Road Warriors movies. We sat in the car until the Sun came up a little more. As we were sitting there I couldn't help but feel like I should be spending this time loading something.

About 5:45 we head to the gate and go inside. About this time I figure out "a gate" usually means a fence and realize I've just been caged. My other immediate observation is that the rest rooms are up wind from the food venders. Might want to rethink this guys.

I think I may have caught a glimpse of the free market system after The Apocalypse.. First suggestion, learn one or all of the following.

1)Spanish

2) Some unknown Middle Eastern language. I won't even venture a guess.

3) Some unknown Southeastern language. I'll take a stab and say Vietnamese.

I just want to reassure everyone. It's not going to be that bad There are going to be lots of tools for sale cheap and we are all going to be wearing Jelly Shoes and eating lots of fresh corn on the cob, cantaloupe , and jalapeno peppers. As fare as entertainment goes we will be watching VHS videos of Ghost, The Mighty Ducks, and working out with Jane Fonda. And I will have the market cornered on gum ball machines. I'll look back to July 5th, 2008 and think to myself...

"This is when my empire started"

Anyone want to buy a gum ball machine? Anyone, anyone? What the hell am I going to do with 4 gum ball machines. Okay, so I payed 3 bucks for the 4 of them,.,,,again, anyone? Glass domes metal construction. And in answer to your question, yes I do realize I'll be back there by the end of the summer trying to unload the damn things!

After we finished up at "The Thunderdome" we went out for breakfast. It was only 8:30 and I'd been up for four hours! I got home about 10:30, re-scraped my tongue and went back to bed and slept till about 2. I wish I had some clever closer here but just thinking about it make me feel in need of a shower and a nap. Nite,nite.

Rural Pontifications

Last week while goofing around on Flickr I came across a link to a site called Blurb.com. Blurb is an amazing site that has free software that allows you to make your own books. I'll let that sink in for a moment.

You then upload your book to their site and in 7-10 business days you have a amazing bookstore quality book. But wait, theres more! For the same low, low price which is nothing, free, zip, zero. You can put your book in their bookstore so uncle Charlie and aunt Madge can get a copy of your wedding photos in a nifty, professional bound book. And for those entrepreneurs out there you can even make a little scratch from you books, yep anything over the price to make it you keep.

I told my friend the lovely and talented venusdepavo of 43things fame about Blurb. Thinking she might make a book of her poems and watercolors.

This morning a little bird told me her first book was finished and had been uploaded to Blurb and that I should go take a look. Its called Rural Pontifications. Go, get! Go have a look but come back, I'm not done yet.

Huh? What you thought I was kidding about the lovely and talented thing didn't you? Want to know more? Check out her pages.

Her web site: www.venusdepavo.com
Her blog: http://venusdepavo.blogspot.com/
Her Blurb Page: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/280459