AntoineRJWright.com

Ah-lo ;)

So far this is turning into one of those mental-working weeks. I've got a lot on the mind, but finally feel refreshed enough to deal with a few things. Looking forward to a few things though as the week continues...

Going to check out a poetry spot in Charlotte tonite. There are two that go on on Tuesday nights, but this one already feels like it has a Love Jones vibe to it. I'll be enjoying this one for sure.

Then there is an event called Fusion Fridays going on at World Worship Center on this Friday night. I need to make a panel for events like these on the side of the page. This one would be really solid. Even got a call today asking me to have two poems ready instead of one. The last time around I did a piece called Shades. Totally off the top of my head and the Spirit of God. But it was very well received and so I've been asked to come back and bless folks again. Looking forward to that.

Ironically enough, the last time I went someplace and I was a featured poet, I met the woman who is now my ex. Hopefully, I can be a bit less ancy this time around.

Image: N810 and N810 WiMax Edition via World of Gadgets

There was a new Nokia Internet Tablet announced today. Called the N810 Internet Tablet WiMax Edition (mouthful), it not only does WiFi, but also a new technology called WiMax. Folks in Baltimore, DC, and Chicago will get a taste of this via Sprint in a few months. WiMax is like WiFi, except its range is 2-3 miles, instead of a few hundred feet. This device could be a boon for college students as well as ministers who stay on the go and a laptop is too heavy to continue to tote along.

The Carnival of the Mobilits is up at mobilestance.com. I'm not featured in this one, but there's a ton to read. Something that tends to happen from reading the Carnival is that I get some websites to read that I normally wouldn't. This keeps reading and learning fresh for me. And considering that I'm already one of those off the beaten path, this is good.

Lastly, heard thru Jaiku today about a situation that was happening at Ville. Kinda neat to hear about things via Jaiku. Social networks are good for that kind of thing (hence my voicemail message, hehehe). But seriously, applications and services that provide some type of presence notification, in addition to a solid community of folks online and offline can be a really communication bridge in a time of emergencies. I was able to call a few folks to just check in and make sure that they were doing alright. And in the end, all was fine.

After chatting with my friend Amanda last night, I'm encouraged to get back into writing up my study of "Father, forgive them..." that I have still sitting in draft mode. Should be good once I get it done, and definitely short and to the point too.

Something of a day, and its not over yet. Keep me in prayer as I am sure more is to come.

Labels: Carnival of the Mobilists, events, MMM, mobility

Getting (Online) Social

I've been a lot reluctant to engage in the use of various social networks online. mainly because I prefer to have a service that works on a mobile device easily, and then it has to be something that fits where I don't need to pay a lot of attention to it. MySpace, Facebook, and even items like Netvibes and Digg rank really low on the list of those that I want to engage in. Honestly, making friends isn't that hard for me (never has been according to some folks), and neither is managing how I share and connect with them. Online social networks should be the same.

However, lately I have been jumping into a few more often than not. Here's a few, and the reasons why:

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of my favorites because it allows me to keep ties to contacts that I've worked with or those that I know from online. Besides the whole "six degrees of separation" feel, it has a sense of processionalism that many social networks just don't run for. Besides Jaiku, this is one that I wish directly tied into my mobile's address book. It would come in handy for the amount of questions that I get that lead to recommendations for services or work.

Jaiku
Jaiku is so far my favorite. Besides being a micro-blog, it is also a feed aggreator. And combined with the mobile application on Symbian S60 devices, it makes for a solid solution. The thing I like best about the application is that it connects right to the address book. This makes connecting those online and offline a breeze. It also has a presence indicator that can show things like how many people near you are on Jaiku Mobile, if you are on the phone, or even the name of an event if you are busy.

Now if I could just get more folks to use smartphones :) then maybe Google will make this a lifestyle application to the nth degree.

last.fm
last.fm is relatively new to my library. I started using this because I am now singing with the praise/worship team at my church and because of our various backgrounds, there's a lot of music that we need in order to make up a library of singable songs. I use last.fm and the ability to search artists in order to find those that we know, and recommendations to those I don't know. And best of all, I use the Vagalume application on my N800 in order to have last.fm be a suitable mobile application. Not only suitable, but timely.

I'm trying to figure out how to get that RSS feed in Jaiku of my recent plays, and then maybe add the playlist radio here without breaking things. Thankfully finding good music isn't so hard as CSS issues.

Update: There's an article on last.fm at ReadWriteWeb speaking about how its looking to create communities around content (instead of communities just around people). Nice piece and gives some additional insight as to how social networks enhance communicative practices.

Opera Link
Opera Link is an interesting take on being able to take your bookmarks from one computer to another. It works best with the beta version of the Opera browser as it syncs there; but it will work just fine as a portal page from any other web browser. I see services like this as having a lot of potential for connecting users and the information in browsers better.

I do need to take better advantage of my Opera Link account. Since giving away my laptop, I've not been on the beta version of Opera, and the current version in my desktop(s) don't sync with it.

3HLive
3HLive is the holy hip hop end of things. Its built on top of the Ning social network. Ning is essentially a Facebook/MySpace competitor, but allows groups to create social networks of their own. 3HLive is great for getting HHH music that you cannot find other places, and connecting with the folks in the MD area that I miss hanging out with.

One thing about 3HLive that I don't like is that the site is so heavy with AJAX that is loads slow. That takes away from what is basically a solid mix of MySpace and last.fm.

Events and Calendars
As a note, I don't currently use an online calendar because if there's an event I tend to keep my options open. But social networks that use upcoming, Evite, and others rank high as those that are pretty slick towards getting to events with folks I know in the above social networks. When it comes to events, I prefer anything that can export into vCal/vCard formats as you can SMS/MMS the events, as well as let people bring them into a calendar of choice.

There's bound to be a few more that tickle my fancy as time goes on, but as you can tell from those that I use, I'm deliberate in what I share, and how I share information. Sure, there's a really good chance that I can be a bit too consumed in all of this at some point. And that is something to guard against on several turns.

I do know though that when I need to get social for one reason or another, I do have some spokes in my wheel that I can take advantage of. And those keep me connected, not just online, but offline to those that matter to me.

Now, here's some advice that might be good for you if you are looking to get a job, connect with people, or just find out what's going on in life around you. Start with the websites that you visit (news, MySpace, etc.) and start clicking on those links to social networks that people you know are connected with. After that, do some investigating if it is safe and worth spending the time in making a profile. After that, just get connected. You never know what might happen.

Labels: commentary, community, events, jaiku, mobile

Don't Say You Didn't Hear About It

Passing along some info, so don't say I didn't say anything:

Faith's Soiree, Sat @ University City Church
View Flyer

As for me, I need to get some sleep. It has been a long week with MixxMasters and this.

Labels: community, events

Coming Up In the Q-City

I'll update this later, but for now, peep the SteelRoots website for more info.

Labels: events

80's-Skate-Party in Charlotte This Weekend

October 12th 10:15pm - 1:15am —
Jenni and Amanda's Awesome 80's Skate Party!
Kate's Skating Rink, 14500 Independence Blvd. 28079

I'm going to be out of town, but did want to pass the message out to any who might be in the area this Friday night and looking for something to hang out and do. The cost is $6, and the concession stand will be open.

Download this event to your calendar by clicking on the link and choosing 'Save As'.

This hCalendar event brought to you by the hCalendar Creator. The transformation into a downloadable file is curtosy of suda.co.uk

Labels: events

Philo Album Release Party & Book Signing June 9th

A good friend of mine is releasing both a book and album on this coming June 9th (two days from now, yikes). Read on for the event information as well as links to where you can purchase the CD or MP3 of the entire project.

June 9th 4pm to 8pm — Philo w/God Album Release Party, Book Signing — at Holy Trinity Worship Center International 4628 Minnesota Ave. NE, Washington DC 20019

Bring some friends & get there early....seating is limited!!!!

Created this item HTML code with the hCalendar Creator I'll update this later with links to the CD and MP3 sites to purchase this release.

Labels: events

AntoineRJWright.com

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Ah-lo ;)

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Getting (Online) Social

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Don't Say You Didn't Hear About It

Monday, December 03, 2007

Coming Up In the Q-City

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

80's-Skate-Party in Charlotte This Weekend

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Philo Album Release Party & Book Signing June 9th

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