7am: Fresh, Hopeful, and Focused

So Long Vimeo, I’m Just Not That Into You

January 8, 2010 · Filed under Social Media

When our son was born this past spring, L and I knew we’d be taking video at some point. When Apple launched the 3GS, consistent video became a reality and L began shooting multiple videos a day. The only issue was where those videos would live. Did we want to use YouTube? Did we want to use Vimeo? Well, not being as famliar with Vimeo as I wanted to be, I opted for Vimeo to gain a better understanding of capabilities and functionality. I was impressed at first, and L was able to email her videos in from the phone, albeit not as easy as the current post to YouTube button that is a default on the iPhone. However, it was easy enough, which is key when you have grandparents that want to see today’s video, yesterday.

However, about a month ago, our videos no longer posted over email. We posted comments through the Vimeo message boards and the support was just not helpful. First we were instructed to read the default FAQ response to videos not uploading. Then we were instructed to try again. Then we were instructed to try emailing while connected to a wifi hotspot (which we were every time anyway). Finally, we were told just to upload from the computer.

Sadly, that answer doesn’t cut it, not when YouTube and Flickr have no problem handling mobile uploads. I don’t have the time, nor do I remember to post videos from my computer. The inconvenience causes me to lose interest in what was a good experience. For any service to cut it in the competitive market that is social media technology, convenience and efficiency are key, and this is something that both YouTube and Flickr have figured out.

So, it is with regret, but with said efficiency, that we will be saying so long to Vimeo and posting all of our photos and videos to Flickr, thus consolidating our visual media in one location.

Yes, Grandma and Grandpa, only one click now… You’re welcome.

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This Week’s Random Thoughts and Rants

January 7, 2010 · Filed under Random Rambling, Sporting Commentary

These were the top random thoughts that crossed my mind today:

Tiger Woods. Is he really gay? And if so, was his marriage and family, along with the women he has been linked to just a coverup? And if so, will the public forgive him for his “transgressions” as the public often does when a man reveals his true sexuality? And if so, will his sponsors forgive him too and come back? I don’t know of too many gay athletes with mega sponsorship deals, but maybe as Tiger’s father said so long ago, Tiger will change the world. And if he does, did it really have to be at the cost of his wife Elin, and his kids?

Netflix. Really? Is anyone else upset that Netflix has signed an agreement with Warner Brothers to delay new releases by 28 days so they can sell more DVDs? I know L and I have already cut our rental agreement with Netflix back to 1 rental at a time, but given how convenient Redbox is, if Netflix decides to take the same approach with other studios, Netflix may get cut from our budget entirely. This agreement seems like such a risky move given how tight family budgets have become in this economy, and most families are looking for any excuse to cut unneeded discretionary expenses. Will greed be the downfall of what used to be such a smart and savvy company?

The Bowl Season. Does anyone else think the bowl season is too long? With tonight’s national championship game looming, I am actually sitting on my computer rather than watching the pre-game with bated breath as I once used to. The excitement of the bowl season used to culminate with a crazy day of college football on New Year’s Day, and a night of championship football. Then it expanded to January 2… then January 3… and then this year’s ridiculuous schedule of a game every night (except for the NFL’s Sunday). January 7th for the national championship game? Really? I’ll be lucky if I make it to half. I just don’t care anymore.

Gilbert Arenas. I am sure this has been blogged and talked about to death, but what an idiot. When the Wizards signed Gilbert Arenas back in 2003 (which seems like yesterday sadly) I thought the Wizards were finally going to be a premiere team to compete in the Eastern Conference. As most of you know, he has been a complete disappointment, along with the Wizards as a whole (with the exception of beating the Bulls in the first round back in the ‘04-’05 season – which has to go down as one of the more exciting sports moments I’ve experienced in person). And then he brings unloaded guns to the locker room. When David Sterns suspended him indefinitely yesterday, I didn’t care. As one caller put it on a local sports show recently, “it’s not as if we asked Gilbert to be a role model, even if the kids naturally gravitate to him. We just want him to act like a responsible citizen, not a 12 year old.” He hasn’t, and is a 12 year old. I say cut him and good riddance… may we void your contract on the nearest hibachi.

The Redskins. As most of you know, I love Washington sports, and I love the Redskins, for better or for worse. But I’m over it. I’m over the firing of Vinny. I’m over the hiring of Bruce Allen. I’m over Shanahan being named the head coach, and I’m over all of the ridiculous antics of such overpaid egos like Clinton Portis and Albert Haynesworth. As I said to my buddy yesterday, just effing win. Seriously, I don’t care who you draft, what your draft strategy is, what Shanahan’s record has been, or whatever analysis is required. Just shut up and win next season.

Nosey Neighbor. Finally, if your neighbor’s dog barks in the middle of the night when you normally never hear it, and then you ask them about it the next day because you were concerned that something nefarious might be going on, are you a nosey neighbor or a concerned neighbor? I’d like to think the latter, but could easily see being the former. I hope they think of us though as concerned neighbors.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ve wasted enough time banging out my frustration on these keys and should probably get some work done tonight before I bore myself with the Texas-Alabama game. Thanks for listening.

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How much is too much?

December 30, 2009 · Filed under Random Rambling, Social Media

As social media and technology opens the doors for sharing information with friends, family, (and random people) the types of information that we share also grows. I love technology… and as someone who suffers from my generation’s ADHD, I also love testing new social media platforms as they are introduced. I probably sign up for a new service or download a new application 3-4 times a week. And if it’s interesting, entertaining, or something that will make my life better I will continue using it. I have a service to share my favorite music, my favorite sites, my pictures, my videos, my location, quick thoughts, not so quick thoughts, my favorite movies, my friends, and the list goes on and on.

And then the other day, my wife asked me if I was worried about sharing too much information. So much so that my identity was potentially at risk. At first I brushed her off. After all, I am supposed to be the one in the know, the one who is much more educated about this than she is (though she’ll argue with me on this – what else is new?). But as I thought about it, it’s from her everyday perspective that I should be viewing the sharing of my information. How much sharing of information is too much information?

As we spent time with family and friends over the holidays, I wanted to tweet my presents, upload pictures of our one year old son opening his gifts for the first time, and share some of our holiday anecdotes. But every time I picked up the laptop to fire something off my wife’s concern nagged at me in the back of my mind (insert your favorite wife nagging joke here). Every time, I refrained from posting what I thought to be interesting information.

So, I’ve been wrestling with this question for the past few weeks: Why am I using social media? Not only am I throwing so much information out there that a quick Google search could tell you how negligent I have been on going to the gym, a quick scan would reveal that I may be using social media without any purpose in mind.

This thought process is no different than how any business should approach using social media. Everyone wants a Facebook page, or an iPhone application, but with what purpose? Who are you talking to? What are the objectives? As a business, you understand who your audience is, what media they consume, and what the message needs to be on a particular media to get your audience to take action. In this case, social media is no different than using any other media. The difference is understanding how to use the media to get your audience to take action. So, as you think about how you are going to approach using social media in 2010, ask yourself how much is too much, and with what purpose am I doing this? Believe me, I will be asking myself the same questions.

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One and Done

December 14, 2009 · Filed under Fantasy Football, Sporting Commentary · Tagged Fantasy Football

One week of prep and thirteen weeks of dilligent management led to a complete lack of performance on my fantasy football team’s part yesterday. After the games I sat down with the teams looking for an explanation but my frustration was met with blank stares and quiet coughing.

“Live Action” which struggled all year with consistency had gone on a hot streak, lending me false hope for an underdog run to the championship, but despite our team captain, McNabb showing up, guns a-blazing with 24 points, and my D (the Eagles, ugh) scoring a whopping 18 with two defensive scores, the rest of the team (9 dudes) mustered 18 points… that’s right, 18 points! Pathetic. I raised hell for about 25 minutes, making references to their mothers, sisters, and family dogs, but that didn’t take away the “L” and it certainly didn’t make me feel any better. Steven Jackson did muster a weak apology, but it fell on deaf ears as I shut my laptop.

“Men of Steel”, my high flying team of superstars also fell short, though their combined efforts produced 25 more points than Live Actionless. Chris Johnson continued his prolific production with 3 TDs and over 150 yards of offense, but my #1 pick, Hollywood Brady managed only a meager 11 points. Tom cited the birth of his son, but being a new father myself, and knowing I could have done better myself, I told him that good looks, a stunning wife, and millions of dollars also meant he had a responsibility to his teams, as well as to his general manager, me, and as such I expected more production out of him. Alas, he shook off my criticism, and climbed into his fancy car, leaving me to answer to ownership (the wife) for our sudden departure from the playoffs and no chance of winning our entry fee back.

I met with ownership this morning and told her, “there’s always next year” but was told that witty cliches don’t buy diapers and that I will now need to take a second job in the offseason.

Thanks fellas… maybe next year.

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Getting Back to It (kind of)

December 9, 2009 · Filed under Random Rambling

Returning from time off from work is always challenging. Doing so after a week in tropical paradise is even more so, especially when one returns to snow. After dealing with the nonsense created by local drivers not understanding how to drive in snow, reality set in pretty quickly on Monday when I began sifting through all of the emails I received while on vacation.

Yes, it’s true, I do admit checking email last week, but instead of responding like I have done in years past, I made a concerted effort to just scan and not get sucked into doing actual work.

Consequently, the first few days back in the office have been a bit overwhelming. There is so much to do – so much so I feel like I have ADHD trying to determine where to start first. Does that happen to you to?

Anyway, writing this quick post was yet another way to procrastinate digging in… and looking at the clock, I see that I have about an hour left to make some progress – which then leads me to wonder, is that even enough time to make a difference? The procrastination continues…

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Key Summary

December 8, 2009 · Filed under Family Moments · Tagged key west, vacation

It’s hard to believe that as quickly as our vacation arrived, the vacation was quickly over. We had a great time with our friends, met some really nice people at the Santa Maria Suites Resort, and definitely took advantage of the warm (and humid) weather. Below is a quick summary of our trip in photos…

I let Lauren do all of the travel arrangements and as such, we had to leave our house the Sunday morning following Thanksgiving at 4:30am. As we pushed Ethan through DCA, we got plenty of looks like the one above. As you can see, he’s still in his pajamas and I think he’s wishing he was still in his own bed.

Once on the plane and dressed for the day, Ethan was very interested in all of the fun buttons and nozzles that were over mommy’s head. In this picture, he was trying to jack up the air. He was a complete joy to fly with… until he decided that he wanted to go back to sleep and there was no bed to lay down on. In the end, mom and dad’s lap sufficed.

Once on the island, we started every morning with a trip to the Coffee and Tea House on Duval St. where our presence became quickly known and expected by the locals. Since both of our kids were up at the crack of dawn, it was not unusual to find us waiting outside the coffeehouse at 6:59 waiting for it to open at 7am. While the kids waited for mom and dad to get their caffeine fix they would amuse themselves, whether it with their own toys (like Evan on the right) or by trying to torment the other child (like Ethan on the left).

The afternoons were spent in the pool allowing both kids to work on their swimming form. I think both kids enjoyed the bathtub-like temperatures as smiles abounded.

Did I mention that our suite opened out into a beautiful courtyard with two pools? The first few days we were able to leave the door to our balcony wide open to let the refreshing breeze into our place. Unfortunately, by the end of the trip the humidity had returned and our view was obstructed by the condensation that formed by the difference in temperatures (my meteorological explanation).

When it was time to go, the Clark family had to kill a little bit of time before it was our turn to catch a cab to the airport. Mom wrote nice letters to the staff while Ethan flipped around looking for cartoons. I’m serious… he actually changed the channel (one would assume accidentally) to the Cartoon Network.

All in all, it was a great trip, and one that we’d love to repeat some day. We were happy to have stayed on the southern side of the island away from all of the touristy stuff, and are definitely happy with where we ended up staying (thanks Mr. Long). Traveling with Ethan was not as bad as I had thought it might be, despite our hellacious last day (more on that later), and would not hesitate to take another trip with him.

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Morning Coffee

December 3, 2009 · Filed under Random Rambling

There is a great little coffee place called Fogarty’s that no more than 5 minutes from our hotel on Duval St. which has been a lifesaver this week. The staff is friendly, the morning regulars have come to recognize the baby crew, and the coffee is actually pretty good.

I need the caffeine bad today but man is this humidity making it hard to enjoy a the hot coffee.

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Taking a Break

December 2, 2009 · Filed under Random Rambling

My wife and I have not taken very many vacations together without family, so when she asked me a month or so ago if I wanted to go to Key West for a week with some friends of ours, my initial hesitation at the cost was quickly outweighed by the thought of sipping on a cold beverage by the pool in December. However, I will admit that I did have some concerns about trying to relax and have fun while responsibly parenting an 8 month old child, but so far (knock on wood) it’s been relatively painless.

The flight down was a little rough (in a few different ways) due to the fact that we had to wake up at 3:45am to manage the logistics of a 6:00am departure. Ethan was a little confused at being awoken at such an early hour when it wasn’t by his own volition, but somehow he managed to fall asleep before takeoff and sleep until the flight was well under way. After playing for a bit, he did get a little fussy and almost woke up the girl next to us until I realized that a mid-air diaper change was needed. Have you ever changed a diaper at 38,000 feet? If you’re a dad, you probably have. Well, this was my first time and let’s just say that those bathrooms were not designed as changing tables. I think I fell into the door 3 different times as I tried to dodge Ethan’s kicking feet and the poo attached to them. Not to mention that his poor bare bum was touching material that had been touched by God knows what despite my best efforts to keep the whole process as sanitary as possible.

Once settled back in our seats, we learned that Ethan would fall asleep pretty easily if he was able to stretch out across both of our laps which was a trick we then used on our short little puddle jumper from Miami to Key West. All in all, it was a good experience, and one worth the treasures that awaited us here in the Conch Republic.

We’re staying at the Santa Maria Suites Resort and the stay has been amazing so far. All the suites overlook a central courtyard where the pools are located and free smoothies are served all day long. The staff is very friendly and I think our little baby caravan has helped us befriend everyone at the hotel as we stand apart from the other 34 rooms here. Not to say that this place isn’t kid friendly. It’s actually been VERY easy to stay here, and given that both of our kids have been so well behaved, the trip itself has been very kid friendly.

Anyway, today is the last day of good weather we’re all sprawled by the pool (and yes, I have my laptop in lap) but hey, anytime we’re not crammed in our little house, or working for “the man” it’s a vacation… especially when adult beverages are not only allowed, but encouraged 24/7.

Speaking of which, I think it’s time for another smoothie…

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Pullups

November 28, 2009 · Filed under Family Moments

Yesterday I was lucky enough (in many ways) to be sitting on the floor in Ethan’s bedroom when he decided to take a closer look at the bars of his crib.

It started off with innocent fun. Ethan would stare at me and laugh as I crawled around on the floor below the crib. Then, he realized that the bars were lower on the front of the crib…

That realization led to Ethan discovering that he could actually reach the top of his bars and pull himself up.

It’s safe to say that at this point I was yelling for Lauren to come upstairs so that she could see this fun milestone, and she made it upstairs just in time…

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Thank You

November 27, 2009 · Filed under Random Rambling

It seems only fitting that I should take a few seconds on Thanksgiving to reflect on 2009 and write about what I am thankful for. In years past it may have been more challenging but 2009 was simplified when my wife and I were blessed by the arrival of our son. The birth of Ethan has unlocked emotions I did not know existed within, strengthened the love and faith I have in Lauren, and has matured my outlook on life. I am truly thankful to have witnessed Ethan’s amazing development and shared those memories with Lauren. The past 7 months have passed so quickly and have easily been the happiest times of my life.

In addition to Ethan’s presence, I am also thankful for my family, a new nephew, having a job, making new friends, getting closer with old friends, and being in good health to enjoy it all.

So, as I sit here on the couch as the day slowly comes to an end, I want to say thank you to all of you who have made me feel so loved.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

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