Tech consultant for Olympia, Lacey, And Tumwater

Events On Social Networks Are Useless

Facebook Events

Are You Training People To Reject Your Invite?
I follow a ton of people from all over the world on most social networks. So I get invites to things all over the world. The problem is that I loose money on my music industry related activities already. So there is no way I am taking a private jet to your local club show. I know, what’s the harm when all I have to do is take a few seconds to click ignore on the event that was mass blasted to everyone on that persons list? Well, it’s kind of like when the “Are you sure you want to delete that” pop ups that our computers give us before hitting delete. Does anyone even pay any attention to them at all? I am so used to hitting that ok button that even if a part of my brain is questioning the deletion, my hand has already deleted the item before I can even save it. The same thing happens with your events. When I see that question of “Will you attend this event”, I hit no before I even stop to check the location. I click that no button before I even look to see what that event is.

Why Did You Promote The Event On Facebook?
Because everyone just blasts everything to everyone, everyone is jaded to the event invites. So no one really pays any attention to them at all. Sure your best friend will click yes. Your girlfriend will click yes. Your bandmates will mostly click yes (sorry but your drummer is dumber than a rock and doesn’t get it), but will this improve attendance? Not one bit. You will be lucky to get one person to attend that would not have attended otherwise. Wasn’t that the point? To get more people to show up than who would have otherwise? Then stop blasting it to everyone because you are training people to reject your events without even thinking about it. It is a knee jerk reaction because of the constant blasts we all get from every band from all over the world.

Have You Ever Even Mentioned The State Or City?
Most band’s don’t even mention the state or city. So I have rejected events and found out later it was a local show at a club I had never heard of before. At least list the state and city or your event post failed right out of the gate.

It’s Not All Bad News
So is this nothing but bad news? No. You can stop it. We all need to do our part to stop people from blasting everyone for an event that only 10% of their followers are even capable of attending. Most of the social networks have a way of selecting only the people from your area. Can we start a campaign to not just click no, but to say why in the comments. When an online friend invites you to an event in another state or country, link to this article. Or you can just type “Stop inviting people from out of state, it hurts us non-spamming bands jerkface!” Ok, make up your own line if you want. I just think it would be funny if EVERYONE started using that one. If they don’t list the city and state post that you have no idea what part of the world the event is at and that is why you will not attend. It will take more of an effort than most will be able to muster, but if enough of us do this we can change the pattern and maybe a few habits. Or maybe this is just a way for your band to rise above the rest?

Sponsor My Droid 2 Hunt And Unboxing!

Droid 2

So Thursday morning I will be at my local Verizon store banging on the door demanding my brand spanking Droid 2. I will be posting videos of the hunt, the unboxing, and the initial playing of this new product. This will be an all day event with between 5 to ten videos being posted within that first 24 hours. I need something to plug! If you know me, you know I have no problem to sucking up to the sponsors of the things I do. So sponsor me already! Anyone who is willing to spread this to a potential sponsor it would be very much appreciated. Don’t worry about asking for permission to give out the email for this auction. It’s all over this website and will be killed off on Friday.

How Do We Bid?
I’m doing this by email simply because the auction sites out there both suck and blow. I will be posting through my Twitter account only what the bids are up to whenever an update is needed. I will monitor this as often as I can over the next 24 hours. The names of who bid what will be kept secret though. How do you bid? Real easy send an email to Droid2@MarkCarras.com Don’t bother sending this email around to spammers or storing it in your lists. It will be killed after the auction. If I don’t get back to you it means that you lost the auction. Watch my Twitter if you want a chance to re-bid. Bid as often as you feel you need to. It takes me one second to hit delete if you’re too low.

Who Can Bid?
It’s pretty open. No porn. Nothing racist. It has to be an actual product of some kind. Website, food, drink, band, cd, dvd, movie, service, etc. So pretty much anything. If you have a website for me to plug you will get more out of it, but that is your choice. I’m here to promote your thing. Email me a bid and let’s do this thing!

How Much Of A Deal Will You Make?
Well I am getting the phone to prepare for my trip to Gnomedex next week. Gnomedex is part of Seattle Geek Week. So once I get it, I will be trying to figure out what I can do with it, how to use the tools it has, figuring out which apps I need, and figuring out how to use those apps. This will be the subject of most of the videos I will be promoting my sponsor…who ever that is.

Again, email your bid to Droid2@MarkCarras.com and watch my Twitter feed for the results.

My Twitter Feed is at http://twitter.com/MarkCarras

R2-D2 Droid: Verizon Why Must You Torture Me!

Droid 2

So more official news is finally coming out about the Droid 2. Anyone who has been paying any attention at all to my social networks is probably sick of me talking about it. I know my wife is. She’s told me as much. So now it is pretty much official that the Droid 2 may be ordered online on Wednesday and may be ordered in store on Thursday of this week. So not only is my waiting over, but I will now be able to have a new phone in time for Gnomedex. So I’m happy right? Oh hell no!

At the same time as they announce that I can get my Droid 2 in time for Gnomedex, they also announce that if I wait just a few weeks more I can get an R2-D2 version of the phone. With me being a major Star Wars nerd from way back before most of you were born, this is pure torture! There is no way I can wait any longer for a new phone, so I am going to get the regular Droid 2. However, I may have to put up with insane amounts of flack from my wife for switching up to the R2D2 version when it comes out just a few weeks later. Would I pay an extra couple hundred dollars to have a Star Wars version of a phone I purchased just weeks prior? Yes, I am THAT pathetic!

Now of course Verizon has a 30 day return policy, but I’m willing to bet they will release the R2D2 Droid 2 just over one month after the regular Droid 2. So either those poor clerks will have to deal with a flood of excited nerds exchanging their phones or they will deal with really pissed off nerds wanting to exchange their phones, but not being able to. Of course one could just wait an extra couple weeks before buying the regular Droid 2, so they fit into that return policy window, but I’m an American and so I’m more impatient than an Apple fanboy waiting for a chance to sniff Steve Jobs boxers.

No worries people. I hear that there will be a Verizon representative at Gnomedex, so I will do my best to get an interview with them. Maybe I can find out a way to get upgraded to the R2D2 phone from the regular Droid 2 without paying a few extra hundred dollars? So to my fellow nerds please keep watching this page for updates next weekend for further updates on this insanity. Before then I should be blogging daily about my adventures trying to get a Droid 2 phone on Thursday morning. Anyone want to go hunting with me?

Why Do You Share On Facebook?

Facebook

For most of the time I have been on Facebook, I have been bothered by some of the posting behavior of my fellow users. Recently it has started bothering me less and less. Why, because I have started to accept that everyone looks to Facebook for different reasons. These reasons are starting to intrigue me.

The Reasons I post
When I ost something it is to share some form of information that I think others may have a want or need for. This could be a music video, article, or perception of thinking. However, I try my best to not share things that others have seen a million times before. No matter how much I love a song, why post a video most have seen already? Wouldn’t it be better to post something new? I have always heard that social networking is all about content. The better the content the more people will not only follow you, but also pay attention. If I post some Nickelback video, to me it is a bigger mistake that people have seen it before than the mistake of posting something so many so passionately hate. I find no issue with posting a video people despise. I do however have a major problem with people posting a video that people have seen a million times before.

Sorry I was offended by your offensive behavior
There was once a person I followed on Facebook that would post the same mainstream videos everyday. There was about ten of them. I have wondered if it was some posting bot on a loop because there was never much variation to it. I majorly offended the person when I asked if that was the case. I was honestly just trying to find out why one would post the same thing over and over again everyday. It made no sense to me.

Who Pays For My Therapy?
Here I was thinking that it was silly to post something most have seen and this person goes and posts the same thing over and over again everyday. How many people on her list of friends had not seen that video by the tenth time she posted it? I am willing to bet that most of them had seen it before she posted it once. It was pretty mainstream. It would be like teaching a child that humans never eat hot dogs ever and to eat one would be wrong. Then that child goes to a hot dog eating contest where someone eats packages after packages of lips and bung holes. That child might need some therapy. This wasn’t just someone breaking the rules that I held sacred. That I could deal with. This was pissing on the bible in front of the Pope and and setting the book on fire!

I’m better now, really
Now I see people posting mundane things all the time and it still makes me twitch a little. I still see people trying to pull off Rickrolling like it’s a new thing! But now I see that even though Facebook and Twitter are for posting content of some sort that most have not seen, for others that is not the case. For that person that posted that Nickleback video everyday, Facebook might be the place where you are letting others know what you are listening to. So you can post a video because you think others should see it, or just because you want others to know what you are currently listening to. So before you go off on someone for breaking some sacred rule of conduct in social networking, know that for some it’s not about the actual networking. Hell, sometimes they just want to unplug their brains and play Farmville…(*shudder*).

Can Morals And Business Get Along?

HP

So most of us have seen this HP sex scandal go nuts, but most are wondering what the hell happened. With payouts and stock tumbles it has cost the company in the billions. Most seem to agree that he was actually a really good CEO. The only problem is that he couldn’t keep the trouser snake in it’s cage. The thing we need to keep in mind is that either could most of the important figures in history. Albert Einstein cheated on his wife. Thomas Jefferson was a man whore. Heck, Tolstoy, Nietzsche, Beethoven, & Shakespeare all ended up with syphilis due to being cheap dirty sluts.

So can someone be great and be unfaithful? An argument can be made that great men are (for the most part) very sexually promiscuous. Since the stock of HP fell massively when it was announced that Mark Hurd would resign, I’d say that it was the moral minority that hurt the business of HP more than Mr. Hurd’s indiscretions did.

My mother once passionately defended George Bush Jr by saying he was better than that cheating Bill Clinton. She made no reference to the signing of treaties that opened the door to all the out sourcing that is killing this country. She made no comment on Bush Jr’s responsibility for the deaths of thousands for an unjust and unneeded war. Her only stance was that he cheated on his wife, so he is a horrid leader. A simple look through history would have told her that great leaders cheat. Clinton had that in common with the greatest leaders in history! Of course it makes him a horrid husband, but what makes a horrid husband makes a great leader. History has proven this.

Are all cheating husbands potential great leaders? No. You are a retard if you think that. Are all great leaders cheating bastards? I doubt it, but it does seem that most of the greatest ones are. My only point to this is we should leave personal matters of our leaders to be personal. What they do in their personal life doesn’t affect how they lead. They are no more connected then how great an actor is shows how great of a musician they will be. We all know how many horrid albums have been done by actors, right? William Shatners Greatest hits anyone?

(special thanks to my friend Bert Web for his help on this article)

Would You Pay For Social Networking?

Money

So this question was posed on Facebook recently by the ever so awesome folks at Social Blade. What I liked about the question was that it was so vague. It made a horrid question for Facebook, because it made such an awesome question to answer in blog form.

Full credit for the inspiration of this post goes to Erin of Social Blade though.

So let’s dive into this question first by asking the questions that it ignores. Most importantly is what part of Social Networking are we talking about? Social Networking is a pretty massive thing. It’s like saying that computers are evil. Sure there is a ton of evil connected to computers, but there is a ton of good too. There are tons of elements within social networking that I feel should never be paid for, but there are other services within that that should totally be paid for. It’s all a question of what you consider to be part of social networking.

The Sites Themselves
So sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Mixx, Reddit, etc should never be paid for. If they can’t figure out how to make a profit from the tons of eyeballs they need to just shut their proverbial doors. They can charge for advertising of all different types. They can charge for not showing any ads, they can charge for features on a profile that do not directly affect the voting algorithm, they can charge for access to some of the analytics (if they are careful), they can charge for access to their API, sites like Twitter and Facebook can charge for extra features on business related pages, they can charge for conferences, they can charge for merch, and I could go on forever. The truth is that there are endless ways they can make money without charging for the basic services. For the most part they need to stay free or their integrity will be questioned.

API run services
I have always thought that websites should be charged for access to another websites API. Then services that run off of the API can be more dependable as well as more powerful. This would also make it more understandable for the API dependent services to charge their users. If an API does something that saves me some time and makes my business more efficient, I have zero problem with some $5 a month charge. $5 a month times a few thousand users adds up pretty fast. Make that a few million users and that service can make insane amounts of money.

Pro Run Social Media Accounts
As a person who gets paid to run some of the social networking accounts of my clients, I must insist that I get paid for the work I do. Would I pay for someone to run my accounts? At this point I think it might make people question my integrity. However, if you had an a-list band, ran a shoe store, had a HVAC company, or had a major motion picture opening soon, you would be stupid to not hire someone to handle that for you. You have more important things to do. Plus, someone like me will be able to do it better than you since you have so little experience in this. Since I sit around all day and do nothing but this, I am going to be able to do it better and more efficiently. Most of us can cut meat up, but hire a butcher and they will show you how a pro does it.

In closing
So there are elements of social networking that you should NEVER pay for, but there are things you SHOULD pay for as well. You have to use a little common sense to pick which is which. If you have questions, ask an expert. That is what they are there for. No, really… ASK ME!

Stop Spreading Fudd!

Fudd

What’d You Call Me!?
So I ended up with a job as a sort of Tech Consultant recently. Not exactly sure how this happened as I wasn’t looking for a new job and never filled out an application. I do know that the guy I am replacing seemed to work really hard at making technology sound as complicated as he could. This bothers me. As a passionate lover of technology I want to share it with as many as i can. I want others to love it as I do. To do this I try and explain technology to as many as I am able to. I can’t help but be any other way because I love this and have a passion for it. The other guys just want your money.

Don’t Make Me Angry…You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry
I have a major pet peeve when it comes to technology. I get really pissy when I hear people use terms like “RTFM” or link people to websites like “Let Me Google That For You” instead of actually helping the person. People are afraid enough about technology and as an industry the last thing we need is for people to be helping to spread the “F.U.D.D.” (Fear Uncertainty & Doubt). I need to print up t-shirts that say “Don’t Spread The F.U.D.D.!” I hate F.U.D.D. and I despise the people that encourage it!

This Is Not Voodoo!
Now my new boss thinks that my main job is to increase his Google rankings. To me that is the easy part and a small part of the job. As far as I’m concerned my real job is to destroy this line of thinking that looks at this type of technology as some kind of freaky voodoo. Cooking Mac & Cheese is pretty complicated until someone shows you how. If you have a good teacher this stuff is easy. Trust me…please!

Does Your SEO Guy Sound Like This…
Watch this video. If your S.E.O. guy sounds like him, run. Run fast! Do not trust them for even a second. They are full of crap and they are a scam. They will lock you into things you can’t ever take full control over. They will treat you like a crack dealer treats a junkie and you will be their slave until they suck your company dry.

Call Me! You Can Call Me, Call Me, Anytime, Call Me!
If your guy sounds like the guy above when trying to explain how the internet can help your small business. Please call me instead. My Office hours are 12 noon pacific until 8 pm pacific. My number is 360-789-0703 People from Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater Washington especially encouraged.

This Is How It Should Be Done!
Now neither the video above nor the video below were created by me. However, this video below is a great example of the right attitude about how to explain tech. Here he explains something called RSS. Asking a geek to explain RSS is like asking someone to explain breathing. They will look at you like you are a retard and proceed to talk down to you. Instead, I prefer to do it like the great people at Common Craft. Enjoy…

Tech Press Agents Vs Entertainment Press Agents

Press Agents

So recently I hired a press agent for my start up. It took me months to find a music industry press agent that had a clue about tech stuff. I was lucky enough to find one. Most music industry people are about as clueless about technology as a new born baby is to quantum physics. So why not just hire a press agent that specializes in technology and start ups? Because my start up is a music site first and a tech thing second. I would rather get press from Spin, Billboard, or Rolling Stone magazine instead of Tech Crunch, Mashable, or Read Write Web (say that ten times fast out loud). Now I want to make it clear that any press is great. As a fan I read those tech blogs more than the music publications I just listed. I would love press from all six of them! I am just more interested in coverage from the music press because this is a music site. So I found a press agent that could handle that.

Now I am able to say I have dealt with press agents both as the editor of a music publication and as a client. I have no problem with press agents. They have a job to do and there are many I think do it very well. But I come from the entertainment industry angle. In the entertainment industry press agents are “handlers”. Rock stars are not the most organized, punctual, or business savvy people around. So the press agent is part secretary, part manager, part assistant, and part guide. Without them my interviews would almost never be on time and that would be if I was lucky enough to get the interview scheduled in the first place. Not only that but their liaison role can sometimes keep the bigger celebrities from having their mobile and home numbers exposed to overly eager journalists. So add protector to that list above. In the entertainment industry press agents are very important. Journalists form a relationship with the press agents that tend to work the artists that fit their publications format.

This is not at all the case with the tech industry. When I mentioned I was getting a press agent I had some of my friends in the tech industry seriously wonder why I would do such a thing. In the tech industry press agents are looked at as spammers. They are considered to be almost parasites. They get zero respect. This is a total opposite from how they are treated in the entertainment industry. If my press agent tried to get one of the tech blogs I listed above to cover my start up, they would be treated like they were a phone solicitor. But if they tried to get coverage on a music blog they would probably have pretty good luck. So that leads me to wonder how press agents are looked at in different industries. Are they only given respect for their hard work when they are working humans? If they are working a website, gadget, tool, software, beverage, or any other non-organic entity are they treated with disdain? Does the press agent working the competitors of Makita get the brush off from carpenter magazines? Why are press agents with non-human clients treated with so little respect? I’m just curious.

So why the big divide? Can anyone answer me on this one?

Stop Auto Play Websites!

Stop The Noise

I am still amazed when I run into websites that start blasting music at me the second the page loads. Are we stuck in the 90′s? Even MySpace has made it so the default for a band page is to not do this. They now make a band dig into their settings to make this happen. Why? Because it is just bad form. It’s rude and it turns people off. They also got tired of paying for the bandwidth for people that didn’t want to hear the music in the first place. It is why “Band Spam” on MySpace was getting such a bad reputation! For the most part it is looked down on, but people still do it. I recently made a post on several social networks ranting about this practice. Most of the people of course agreed that it drove them nuts when bands do this. A few wondered why it is frowned on.

It is very frowned on for several reasons. Listening to the band’s music is only one of many reasons to go to a band’s website. You could be going there to check tour dates. You could be reading up on a new release. Maybe you are a music journalist just looking for a band photo. I could go on and on. The point is that blasting away at someone without giving them the choice is rather presumptuous and a little rude.

So why is it rude? What if I am in bed doing one of the many things that can be done on a band website other than listening to music. I forgot to turn my speakers off and the site blasts away before I can click the mute button. That band just woke my wife up because they assumed I could only be at their site to listen to music. Or what if I am trying to review a cd of THAT VERY BAND? I already have a cd playing. Now I can’t surf around their site without songs stopping and starting with each page load. Most people listen to music on their computers and your browser doesn’t have it’s own specific volume control.

I have lost count on how many times I have had to stop listening to a cd I was trying to review because I was trying to surf around a band’s website to check some facts on my article. I had to stop listening to the cd I was writing about so I could mute my volume while I surfed around the site! Now of course if browsers had their own volume control this would solve the problem, but the best solution is to leave it up to the person visiting your site.

Now it is not just bands that do this. I have even seen charity sites that have little to do with music inflict this on people. Bandwidth is expensive, so why pay for bandwidth just to annoy people and turn them off to your band? Not only is making people click the play button first create a better experience but it saves the band money. How hard is it to click a play button? Not too hard if the website design is done well.

So please everyone, do your part to convince bands, record labels, and everyone else to stop auto play websites. It’s just bad business.

Are You A Highly Suggestible Moron?

Big Shiny Red Button

Do you ever get the feeling that people on Facebook will join anything they can click with a mouse? Ever get the feeling that these are not the things people actually care about, but just pathetically bored people who just want an excuse to click things with their mouse? Ever seen that online joke where the website shows a great big shiny red button. Above that is text that says something like “Want to know how to keep an idiot busy for hours? Click this button to find out!” When you click the button it just changes the font or something. Facebook is turning into a more involved version of that same joke. It used to be about networking, but not so much anymore.

I Blame Facebook
Facebook had a great idea to allow business, bands, and whoever else to start fan pages. Then people started using that as a way to share a funny line of text. “Click here if you want someone to pull your finger.” Or even the ones that take advantage of your moral outrage. “Click here if you think America has lost it’s way.” I have even seen one that pulls at your heart strings with “Click like if you love your daughter”. Of course some may say that last one has more to do with dealing with the guilt of spending more time clicking stupid like buttons than spending time with your children, but I will save that debate for another time. It got to the point that Facebook caved. Instead of doing something to separate being an actual fan of something or agreeing with an idea, they just switched the fan with a like. The problem is that this dumbed things down instead of raising things to new levels.

Stupid Pages For Stupid People?
The original idea was to find people with like minds that you may want to network with. Do you really want to network with other people who “Don’t like to be lied to?” What kind of important business is there to talk about on the fan (now like) page for “Can I have a coke? Is Pepsi alright?” or “Uh, Is monopoly money alright?” Not much I’m willing to bet. But what about if you want to “fan” the unsigned band Mongrel? Well now you can only “like” them. I think that is pretty lame.

There’s A Shiny Red Button!?
The reality is that Facebook users have shown that they love to push the shiny red button. Pushing that shiny red button will keep the idiots busy for hours. That is fine. The problem is that Facebook doesn’t differentiate. This might increase the levels of brainless fun, but it decreases the levels of powerful networking. Go through the things you once clicked that you were a fan of. Take a look at the walls of every page you have “liked”. How many others are part of that group? How dead is the wall? People only cared enough to click a mouse. They didn’t care enough to discuss the topic at hand with other people who think that way.

Don’t Be A Joiner
As much as it kills me to say it, this is not the fault of the “joiners”. Most Facebook users are nothing more than brainless joiners. Even otherwise smart people turn into brainless joiners when they log into the site. Facebook needs to do something quick to not just cater to that, but to cater to the service as a networking tool as well. Their mistake was trading one for the other. Instead of just switching everything to “like”, they should have given people a choice to keep the “Fan” button. The like pages should have no wall and very little features. Those people have shown they have no interest in anything other than the initial click of that mouse. The networkers (which are many times the same people) have shown they DO want to network. So give them those tools. The important thing though is for Facebook to differentiate the two.

Everyone Is An Idiot, Even Me
So in closing, most people are highly suggestible morons. Idiots are the majority. If Facebook doesn’t want to be the next MySpace (or worse the next Friendster) they need to work hard to fix this. Otherwise the idiots will get bored and move on to the next big shiny red button. Think you can avoid just sitting here clicking a big shiny red button? I don’t. In fact, if you CLICK HERE you can take a test to see how well you can avoid clicking the big shiny red button.