Hello Happy Pitbulls

Herding the Flock

Has anyone tried to use Flock for a browser?  Billed as a social web browser, my husband encouraged me to check it out.

In one browser, I can monitor twitter and facebook, blog directly to my typepad account, and who knows what else.  Just discovered it, so I'll play this weekend.

If you've used it, let me know what you think and how you use it.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: flock, socialbrowser

iPhone Report: 3 weeks out

I bought my iPhone at the beginning of the month, knowing that I'd have plenty of time to play with it while recovering from surgery.

Those of you who have been following my iPhone envy for the past year know that I have been torn about whether to get an iPhone.  I had the opportunity to tamper with a few people's phones and got frustrated with the keyboard (or lack thereof) and my inability to type on the damn thing.  Yet, I was still drawn to it.

Everyone I know who had one raved about how they love their iPhone.  I knew I was missing something.

So here's the verdict:

I love it!  I love everything about it.  Well, I still suck at typing, but that's getting better.  I love the apps. I love that it's my iPod. I love the screen. I love the browsing.  I love the camera.  I love that I can play Mafia Wars on it.  I love that I can get my Netflix, Typepad, Twitter, MLB live games, and more.

Okay, so it's not all true love. Other than the typing, the battery life leaves a bit to be desired, but fortunately, I'm usually around a USB jack or a car charger, so I think I'll be just fine.

Do you have an iPhone? Do you want one?  Recommend any favorite apps? Let me hear from you.

Tweeting through Recovery

Before I had my ankle surgery, someone suggested via Twitter that I would be dealing with a different type of "recovery.gov" -- a bit of Government 2.0 humor which made me laugh, but I wonder if most people were as amused as I am.

First, an ankle update
I guess we're on day 5 or so, and things are going well.  I'm still having some incision pain that the vicodin and ice are doing a good job of handling, so that's good.  This time around, I haven't been spending a lot of time in the boot, since I have my ankle wrapped up pretty good.  I went to the doctor yesterday and had all the dressing removed and the big reveal showed a clean incision, much shorter than the one on the right, and hardly any swelling or bruising.  Again, I am a total rule follower.  Ice, elevation, medication, and this time - coumadin.

Have any of you ever taken blood thinners before?  I guess this is a new protocol for foot and ankle surgeries due to the frequency of blood clots. I am taking coumadin daily and have to go in to the doctor to have my blood clotting factors monitored weekly, at least until I am up and running around again.  Comes with lots of warnings, including the fact that if I get a bloody nose I have to go to the ER.  Crazy.  No papercuts for me!

So the surgery went really well and overall, there was less issues with my tendons on this foot than on my right foot.  This one had more of the issue with the extra freaky muscle.  They removed 3 cm from that muscle to give my tendons more room to move and then fixed the subluxation so I don't have the snapping over my ankle bone any more.  Depending on how things progress, I'll probably be able to start getting back to weight bearing in about 3 weeks, rather than the 6 weeks originally thought.  This is good! 

I am trying to be careful not to overdo it.  Just because I have been through this before and it's a bit easier this time, doesn't mean it's smooth sailing, so I am trying to take it easy this week.

Next, Gov 2.0 Update
I had the extreme pleasure and honor of appearing on Government 2.0 Radio on Blog Talk Radio with Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist.  First of all, this was Sunday, and I was very hoarse from the anesthesia and groggy from my painkillers, but I was doing my best to stay in the conversation.  Craig is an amazing supporter of the new open government initiatives in the Obama Administration and is looking for cues on how to help promote transparency in Government.  You can see from his blog that this has become a recent focus.  If you have some time to spare, check out the show from Sunday, then listen for future shows.  Host Adriel Hampton is a real mover and shaker in the Government 2.0 community, as well as a candidate for US Congress in California District 10.  He's doing great work in bringing government to citizens of the web and I have a lot of respect for the work he's doing!

More later when I'm less foggy.  Enjoy.

How would you like your government?

There's a magical transformation happening on the Internet.  Have you noticed?

Not only is your newspaper allowing you to interact and provide feedback, but your government is too.  Locally, the first place this happened was with Matt Rexroad's blog.  As a candidate and now as a county supervisor, Matt gets it.  Matt combines personal, professional and political topics on his blog, and engages the community in sometimes lively discussions about important local issues.

The State of California is catching on too, with a YouTube channel representing many government agencies, podcasts, commenting on assembly bills, and a handful of blogs and other social media activity.

And the Federal government is completely rocking it out with a number of social media tools and channels. I'm excited about the change that's come to the web, and it was on it's way before the new administration.  My hope is that the new administration will deliver on the promise of transparency the transformation will be more profound.

I am working with a group of government employees on the Social Media Subcouncil of the Federal Web Managers Council to help make a case for the continued use of social media in goverment to engage and involve citizens, to increase collaboration within and between government agencies, and to improve government services.

Transparency. Participation. Collaboration.

What does this mean to you?

Reflections on 2008

There's nothing new and original about an end of year blog post, reflecting back on all the major events of the year.  In fact, I must have read about 100 of them so far.

There's been so much on my mind the past few months, and as I start to plan for the year ahead, I had to take stock in all the things that happened this year that will help shape my year to come.

1. Work.  Too much work.  I love work, but anyone who knows me or who has been reading for a while knows that I work way too much.  Sometimes I think it's a way to avoid real life, the stuff I have going on at home, with family, etc.  Sometimes I know it's just the overachiever in me.  So for 2009, a little less work, a little more efficiency, and a little more "me" time.  That's the menu.
2. Woodland.  Our hometown hero, Dustin Pedroia, won the MLB MVP award.  How cool is that.  Enough said.
3. Change.  Yes We Can. Yes We Did. We elected Barack Obama president.  Again, enough said.
4. Social Media. I've gotten serious about my Tweeple, my Facebook pals and my Mob Wars Mob.  Both personally and professionally.  And because of item 3 above, we have a real hope of having government be truly transparent through the evolution of social media tools being used for communication, first through the campaigns, and now through the change.gov site.  Love it!  And as a government employee, I'm working hard to introduce the same level of transparency through our web communication strategies.  It's exciting (a contributing factor to item 1).
5. The Dead Pool: George Carlin. Paul Newman. Eartha Kitt.  Tim Russert. Majel Barrett-Rodenberry. Bettie Page. Odetta. Michael Crichton. Studs Turkel. Don LaFontaine. Isaac Hayes.  Bernie Mac. Harvey Korman. Sydney Pollack. Danny Federici. Charlton Heston. Anthony Minghella. Steve Fossett. Heath Ledger.  My mother-in-law, Angela Cabias. RIP, all of you.
6. Mexico. A perfect end to a hectic year. I have had my personal reboot.

The list could go on and on. It's almost time to call it a day for 2008. Here's hoping 2009 brings happiness, health, and prosperity.  And peace.  Yeah, we need us some of that.

To Mac, or Not to Mac

Long ago, I was a Mac Geek.  It started off small, with a IIvx, then I moved onto my Quadra 800.  Next I had one of the first color laptops, the 580C, followed by my upgraded PowerPC tower for my pro tools system.  Then I got all modern with my G4 Titanium Powerbook.

Then, something happened.  When I entered the world of working in government, everything was so Microsoft-centric, and our IT department refuses to support Macs for remote access.  I had no other recourse than to purchase a PC laptop (albeit a fancy candy apple red laptop) back in 2005.  Well, 3 years in laptop life is like infinity.  I'm starting to get the laptop itch.

So, what's a girl to do?

I'm looking, researching, asking questions, and reading stuff.  Anyone have any opinions?  No matter what, I'll never go to Vista!

Social Media Revolution at eBay and on the Streets of San Jose

Well, folks -- I am just back from 4 days down in San Jose where I attended a conference at eBay about the current trends happening in communications due to social media technology.  I've considered myself an early adopter, a geek girl, and a social media junkie for some time now.  I've been blogging for 6 years in one form or another.  I'm on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, and even Dogster.

I heard more times than I want to count at this conference that you have to be 25 or younger to understand the social media revolution. Or that all the communications organizations are relying on people at that age to join their teams to enter the social media space.  The conference was full of self-deprecating communicators who endlessly reiterated their lack of technical prowess.

Somehow, I don't feel like I fit in with this camp.  I'm a mildly technical geek girl with a passion for connecting through the web with people at any age.  I don't believe that our target audience should have a cap, though.  I know other "old" people who love these tools and they're my social network.

I have a lot of thoughts about what I learned this week, so as I start processing this information, look for more of my social media experimentation gone wrong.  I do it all here -- because I can.  And cuz it's fun.  Look -- I am already breaking all the rules!

I'm sweating in my boot; and our Governor is orange

Yes, we've reached triple digits in Sacramento.  And I think it's still in the 90s in my house.  And my boot is sweaty.  But enough about me.

Today I went to the Government Technology Conference keynote address at the Sacramento Convention Center and got to see the State CIO Teri Takai, our Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Scott McNealy from Sun Microsystems.  I was most shocked that the Governor seems so big in person, but he skin looked orange.  Must have been the lighting.  Or my eyes. All three speakers were engaging and interesting.  It was just nice to be in a room crowded with the government IT community (which maybe I am or maybe I'm not part of, since I'm "just a user experience" person).

I should have gone home after that.  I had an unpleasant conversation with a not very nice person later in the day, and it still bugs me. Gotta let go of that.

We're in store for more heat this weekend.  I think we'll be seeing a movie or some other way to keep cool.  Ironman anyone?

Twitter sparks customer engagement: Mine!

Yes, I know I have been blathering on about Twitter for a while now, and while I still can't exactly explain the appeal of Twitter (you seriously have to experience it yourself), I've recently experienced an amazing series of events via Twitter that leave me wanting to rant and rave.  About. Zappos!

I have had a shoe thing for a long time. I may have inherited it through my mother. And her mother before her. I have acquired quite a collection of black shoes, until my husband imposed a bit of a moratorium on shoes and purses (which I have written about here). So I resort to sneaking shoes. Running shoes are another thing. I am entitled to go out and get a new pair of shoes for each 1/2 marathon training session, no problem.  Or Vans, Converse, anything funky and surf-chick he's cool with. But more black shoes for work?  Forget about it. Or when I spent $180 on a pair of John Fluevog fabulous purple heels that I tend to wear when I do board presentations and other dog and pony shows. So I sneak out for a pair here, a pair there. 

Now that I am recovering from my ankle surgery, I have been wearing the same shoe on my left foot, with the boot on my right. The shoe is half of a pair of Rocketdog sneakers I got from PacSun for $6.99. They were SO comfy and goofy and clunky. But since I've had this one shoe thing going for about 2 months now, I didn't want to wear out multiple left shoes. Well last night, the Rocketdog bit the dust.  Where am I going with this?

I knew that as I get ready to go from one shoe to two, I need a new pair of good, supportive, appropriately funky shoes. Since I have been spending so much time on Twitter, I have been following @zappos, who is the CEO of Zappos, on Twitter. I never really engaged in any conversation, but followed his conversation and the chatter about what Zappos is doing with Twitter to enhance their attitude about customer service and truly engaging in conversation with their customers to build brand loyalty. Zappos has encouraged staff to sign up for Twitter, to engage in blogging, and provides a site that allows everyone to follow the banter, filtered by conversation about Zappos, and conversation by Zappos employees. First of all, this type of transparency is completely foreign to me in my capacity at work (although I'd love to get us there!)

One day, I posted this tweet: I wonder if someone @zappos would be able to recommend a good comfy pair of shoes for while I am learning to walk again. Anyone?

The next thing I know, I get a direct message from Tony asking me to email him with what I am looking for and he'd have a buyer contact me with some suggestions.

So I did.  And then he did.  I got contacted the same day with a list of about 10 pairs of shoes that fit my criteria.  And I picked these: Naot Footwear's Sea. And the best part, I will have them by MONDAY!

Now that's service. I got personal assistance from the CEO of a company whose site I have been surfing for years as I lusted after one pair of shoes or another, but now they have me.  I will be loyal to Zappos!  I have converted from lurker to advocate.  It's the kind of story that just warms the heart of this geek girl!

Special thanks to @zappos, and @ghardy.  And Twitter!

Reflections on a month of social media overload

As the period of time known as "my time off" from work winds down to a close, I've been thinking about all that I have accomplished. While I planned to knit, read, watch a ton of movies, relax, wind down, catch up and more, I've pretty much done just a few things.

• Wake up every day and move to the couch
• Log into Twitter, my Google Reader, my email, Facebook, Flickr
• Check my Blackberry
• Log into the work server

Once I got through the painful, vicodin fueled fun of the first 10 days, I made sure I kept myself on more or less of a regular schedule, that I got up and got dressed and cleaned up every day (once I could take a shower, the best thing in the world!), and that I was productive.

I really did mean to do more.  Somedays it was all I could do to just get through my email every day.  I meant to work on some strategy documents, planning stuff, policy stuff, justifications, and more. 

But what I did do that was really satisfying was just as rewarding and productive:

• I wrote in my blog more regularly than I have in a while
• I connected with some really amazing people on Twitter, namely @SavvyAuntie, @ToThink, @Skimbaco - three amazing ladies with fascinating things to say
• I followed the phenomenon that is @zappos and the incredible use of Twitter and social media to engage both customers and staff
• I tweeted with my Twitterpeeps (@kahunapacheco, @carlospeep, @ilikeTurtles, @melonhead, @meHeatherD, and @viapress)
• I spent a lot of time thinking about what I do for a living, what I do for fun, and how I can merge the two (either by bringing my fun stuff to my current job or by monetizing my fun stuff)

What does this mean?  Not sure.  Still processing, but I have had the physical break from work that allows me to be in a different space, to let some of the stress of projects and workload and team dynamics and recruiting and training fade away.  I remember when I came back from Mexico last year, I was totally in another zone.  I was mellow for a few months (and that eventually faded away). I think I will go back to work with a new perspective.  I'm ready.  I miss it.  I miss my staff (Web Team Rocks!) and the crazy ICU (shout out to the Internal Communication Unit!) and my geeky work pals.

Conclusion: The social media world is a lot like high school.  You have to wade through a lot of egotistical maniacs, know-it-alls, bullies, and idiots to get to the cream of the crop.  But when you click, you click.  I learn from the good, the bad, and the ugly.  And I hope to contribute to to the good stuff out there.

But in the meantime, I'm just a girl with a blog.