Todd Lyden

I saw the percolating of Triberr.com at least a week or so before it a critical mass recently. (Does that make me an early adopter ? Or just early spotter?) Mitch Joel, and commentors, have a great discussion about Twitter automation going. I really liked the idea- practice is another ball of wax. Most folks are complaining that automatic retweets of unread blog posts suggests that you are recommending something that you might not recommend.  I can see that side of the argument, very legit. Course, this operates with the assumption that EVERYONE assumes you are recommending something when you tweet or re-tweet it. Are you? Should you be held liable if you were to send a link and it changes? The discussion of decorum and expectations about online practices such as this isn't going to end any time soon. The reality is: EVERYONE has their own set of best practices and SOP. I'd like to think that most of them mesh up. I dare say, I get a little tired of experts t...

Image via Wikipedia Something different today. Directors! As the slate of summer movies starts, Captain America is a movie that is getting some attention. The director of the action, period piece is Joe Johnston . The man is a protege of George Lucas . He designed Boba Fett ! Heck, he was a stormtrooper on the Death Star! He is a master of special effects, but also loves to tell a great story. He stepped in to clean up the mess a previous director made of last year's "Wolfman" with Benico Del Toro. Before that, he directed the passion project, "Hidalgo." My epitome movie for Mr. Johnston is " The Rocketeer ." Sure he did great special effects in " Jurassic Park 3 ," still my fave of those dino-movies. He had a great run with " Jumanji ." Did you know he directed " Honey, I Shrunk the Kids ?" The man is versatile, but his willingness to tell a great story married to even better special effects is unmatched. Wh...

How quick are you at seeing something coming down the road? I was fortunate enough to hear a wonderful speaker this week who suggested that one of the crucial talents of ANY leader is recognizing a trend before it starts. You've heard that before, but I was able to personalize it yesterday. My youngest was slowly taking care of her night time routine when I said something to the effect of "hey poke-a-loke, can you move any slower?" (Thankfully, my youngest has the sarcasm gene.) Without missing a beat, as if she was Jim Carrey, she slows the movement in her body down and pretending to be in slow-motion, says "Suuurrreeee, Daaaaaaaaad. I caaaaaaan moooooove sloooower." I stopped myself from laughing and continued with the nighttime routine but stood amazed by this six-year-old's ability to move on a dime. Her ability to see a joke (even if she doesn't realize it) and react to it is borderline precognitive to me. I only wish I could see the r...

Image via Wikipedia Ever built an idea up in your head and then have it completely deflated? You anticipated something so cool, so neat, you just could not wait? I was almost to that point when I got my hands on a Droid phone for a new phone account. Mind you, it was cool. All those app buttons just sitting there. But it hasn't made a huge or drastic change in my life. I was on a Samsung Seek before I switched over. It was a "dumbphone," but I could check all my emails, post to Twitter and Facebook when I needed, and even check other things online when need be. I have to worry with my new phone about power usage, the number of apps running, whether it is using Wifi or the signal, was the change worth it? I'll let you know in the future. So far, I do like the phone. Here are some issues I have with it (it being a Samsung Intercept): - the battery indicator is ALL over the place. I have tried several apps and they are all telling me something different from the native b...

Where was Dan Hesse last week? The CEO of Sprint was out talking about his product again. Ignored my open letter. Let me be clear with my eulogy: I come not to bury Sprint, but praise it. Twelve years is a long term commitment for those looking at their telephone service relationship. There were a few times that I was pretty sure I might leave Spring before now. But it took a temping harlot for me to turn my back on a company I have been loyal to for so long. My first day of Virgin Mobile service and I am fairly happy I made the switch. Despites complaints to the contrary, there was no issue porting my phone number over. The customer service was impeccable. The website easy to manage. So why did I leave Sprint? Money. Virgin Mobile is owned by Sprint and somehow can provide an individual with reasonably priced smartphones and good cheap service plans. I got an Intercept, a Droid phone . For $27, I have unlimited texting and data with a mere 300 minutes of talk- for $40 you can up th...

Image via Wikipedia When my copy of Entertainment Weekly arrived with Nathan Fillion on the cover last week, I knew he would be the actor I wanted to talk about today. I would commend you to pick up the issue because it does a fine job looking at the man's career. You might recognize him from "Desperate Housewives." He did do a season on there. You might even recognize him from his earlier ABC work on " Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place " (BAD TITLE) with a future previous entry: Ryan Reynolds . Who knew they were both Canadian? You PROBABLY know him from his current role in ABC's "Castle." He has had a few notable movie turns like the wrong Ryan in " Saving Private Ryan ." Or written off turns in "Slither" or " White Noise 2 ." Fillion has done a lot of work on TV that did not last. An appearance in "Lost." The aforementioned season of "Desperate Housewives." Or even the Fox short seas...

I asked the question back in December: what problem are QR codes addressing? I think I have the answer finally. The problem is for advertisers. NOT for consumers. It gives you a short quick mystery that must be solved by the consumer. Head over to Mashable and read this case for the final tipping point of QR codes . The author attempts to make the case that the tipping point will be a major event but qualifies that it must have the following criteria to be worthwhile: optimized to be mobile, must have a payoff, and that it will take a campaign of usage for it to catch on. I'm with the author. There had better be a payoff. If you are just trying to get linkage to your Facebook, website, or Twitter account, I think this is going to start backfiring. Why? It's a tradeoff. People WANT transparency in what they signup for right? Godin got big on permission marketing and opt-ins are the way to go with emails etc. A QR code is the ultimate online act of faith (although...

Image via CrunchBase An Open Letter to Dan Hesse , CEO of Sprint: Dear Mr. Hesse, I have been with Sprint for a long time. A real long time. I've been a customer of your company since you were working for the competition. I got my first Sprint phone in lieu of a landline in 1999. When I married again nearly 5 years later, we had a landline, but eventually we got my wife on another cell as she went back to work. Over 6 years ago, the contracts on both those phones expired which gave us the flexibility to leave without those high ETFs . I would call every two years when prices were dropping with other services, but your customer services reps bent over backwards to keep me. The last big push was nearly 2 years ago when my wife wanted texting on our phones and we got the eldest her first phone. You all caved and gave us what was an off the books plan! This last year, we had to add our eldest daughter and went with a traditional shared plan. For a shared 1500 minute plan and unlimited...

I decided to experiment with my CR-48 Chrome/Google Notebook today. I was travelling all over town with a group so it was a perfect chance to test the available of networks and ultimately to finally test the Verizon wi-fi . Lessons learned: 1. my town SUCKS for free internet. Hopefully they can solve this. You'd think in the locations I was that there would be more available networks. Nearly every single one was protected. The few that I found were extremely weak signals. 2. Chrome based work RELIES on internet. I wish they would figure some way to do some work without the link, but until they find a way to have some connection or some space (heck, even a usb)- this bad boy is WORTHLESS without an internet connection. 3. The Verizon wireless provided by Google was a joke. 100mb? I burned through it in just about one and half hours without trying. I did not do much. Seriously, the last thing I did was write this post. I still love this notebook. I still like the cloud,...

Cover of V for Vendetta (Widescreen Edition) So I wanted to go back and recognize another Academy award winner from this year, but keeping the balance stuck with female. I think Natalie Portman had a career worthy of honoring a while back and while I have yet to see Black Swan , I am sure she deserved it. While I have forgiven the transgression of helping Lucas mess with our collective childhoods by being the in the Star War prequels, I still think she is a great actress. I love the trajectory of her career. She has been in small dramedies like Anywhere But Here , Where the Heart Is , and Zach Braff 's Garden State .  She has also done diverse comedies like Mars Attacks! (remember that?) and the recent No Strings Attached . While a generation will think of her as Padme from Star Wars, there are two movies that stand out for me. The more recent V for Vendetta was a great performance. However, if I have to pick a single performance that is her shining moment: the breakout ...

So it is the beginning of Lent . I'm not Catholic , but I get the tradition of giving up something for the 40 days before Easter . I've never done something so long. I get the implication and requirement of the sacrifice, but never got into myself. My question as I contemplated this considering how plugged in I am and I know many others are: what social media tool could you give for Lent? Which might be the easiest for you to jettison? I am contemplating this myself to focus for the next month on other things. How about you? Related articles What is Lent?. (greatriversofhope.wordpress.com) I'm Giving Up Politics For Lent (outsidethebeltway.com)

photo © 2006 *USB* | more info (via: Wylio ) Revisiting a story I talked about in October :  the HASBRO "takeover" of the Discovery Kids network and turning it into "The Hub." This unique relationship has apparently score some wins. In some weeks , it is beating its immediate competition with some interesting programming. Most of it is designed to appeal to kids and their 30-40 year old parents (like me). It is also reaching out to bring different programming from around the world. On it's face, the deal to shift might seem foolhardy considering the crowded marketplace of children's programming: Nick, Disney, and others already fight over the market. But a unique proposition and stand out delivery are seeming to win out. How can you address your competitors? Related articles The Hub Continues with Significant Gains in 'Transformers Prime' and Other Original Programming (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com) Hasbro to Launch Let's Rock Elmo this Fall...

So I started with Robin Williams , moved on to Angelina Jolie , and last week talked about recent Oscar winner Christian Bale . I'd love to hear what you think their best flicks are. Feel free to click back through and let me know! This week, I decided to break the pattern and try something different. I think most of us can agree that Harrison Ford peaked somewhere in the eighties. Yeah, he has done some great work since then, but people around the world know him for one of two roles: Han Solo in the Star Wars movies or Indiana Jones in those movies. This is less about the actor and more about the roles, but I am very curious to learn which you think is the better one for Harrison Ford?                                        Your preference? Related articles Harrison Ford Wants To Kill Off Indiana Jones? (slashfilm.com) Does Harrison Ford Want to Off Indy? (geeksyndicate....

photo © 2008 Epic Beer | more info (via: Wylio ) I suppose the title was misleading. This isn't a review of the poignant Oscar nominated movie. If you would like one, look at Damond's here. Rather, I wanted to talk about the state of raising kids today. I inherited two great kids when I  married my ex-wife nearly eight years ago. We had our own together six years ago- you've heard of her.  We've had the "kids in the world" discussion a few times. The state of the world is so rocky, global warming , wars etc. I've actually heard people say they were not having kids because they could not imagine bringing kids into "this" world. Wow. When I was growing up I remember the Cold War. I remember the drills. We heard the history of the Bay of Pigs and how on the brink we were then! The problems of the world may have changed slightly or a lot I supposed based on your point of view, but if our parents all took the same POV none of us would be ...

I preface this by saying I read both Jay and Amber in their blogs and suggest you do so as well. With that, I was disappointed. I'm not entirely sure who this book was written for. I know who they SAY it is for. The people on the cover tell me who it is for and plenty of folks online have said, but I wonder if we've read the same book. You can  read the first chapter for FREE here . The introduction says that this book is a "playbook for making [the changes needed to address current challenges faced by business in a synchronous world], and for reexamining and retooling your company or organization to make real-time business work for you, rather than against you." The opening of the book isn't much different from any management book you might pick up such as the always popular " Good to Great ," which does get cited at one point early (without much surprise). There are lots of buzz words and some decent case study examples, but the audience for this boo...