http://my.sxsw.com/user/schedule/cjromb

So far, I’ve only added Friday.  I also have multiple choices listed there.  I’ll refine them when I have a chance to read more about the session and the presenters.

As I add sessions from other days, the link above will update.

Are you going?  I’d be really interested in what your picks so far.  Will you comment here and add a link to your schedule if you’re sharing it?

What about parties?  Which ones look like don’t miss?

I’ll admit that most of the time I’m exhausted by time the regular part of the conference is over.  But I’d like to go to a few, and I’d love a buddy for some of them if you’re going.

When I switched, I found the apps I needed so I could get back to work, and I got back to work. It crossed my mind today when @collisionbend sent out the email about @MacHeist giving away free copies of Squeeze, that I haven’t done much ‘what else is out there’ exploring for Mac apps. Online apps? Every day. Multiple times. The list is endless. But not so much Mac apps, and no good reason for that either.

So I’m hoping, if you have a Mac, you’ll take a second to tell me what apps are critically important, (or cool or fun) for you? I’m hoping I learn about a few I don’t know about.

Maybe I’ve got a few for my Mac that you don’t know about, so I’ll share my list. NOTE: These are NOT online apps! That’s a whole different list for another day!

These are my Top Daily Must-Open Mac Apps:

EVERNOTE

SAFARI

Web browser that’s included with the Mac - BTW, I dumped Firefox

MacVIM

vi editor - technical person’s text editor

FILEZILLA

FTP files - I love their new tabbed version

TERMINAL

I use it to access the web server. It’s included with the Mac.

MySQL WorkBench

Database Diagramming Dork tool - I’m using an older version - the newer one was crashing.

SYNCROSVN

Version control for code files

iTunes

I download any new podcasts available from my podcast subscriptions.

LiveScribe Desktop

If you don’t have a Pulse Pen, no point in the desktop if you don’t have the pen.
If you don’t have a Pulse Pen, you’re out of your mind!

Email

Of course, right? I don’t like Mac’s mail client. (Or their Finder for that matter.)

YOUR TURN!

Can you help me? What do you have that I don’t have? I’d really like to know!

Padding & Margin with 4 Values

padding: 10px 5px 3px 6px;  /* which one is top, right, bottom, left? */

To remember, all you have to do is think about the TROUBLE this is to remember!

The first value sets the Top (T)
The second value sets the Right (R)
The third value sets the Bottom (B)
The fourth value sets Left (L)

TRBL - if you sound it out, sounds pretty close to Trouble.  

This trick definitely keeps you out of TRBL.

Want another one? Here ya go, and then I’ll be getting back to my CSS coding.

CSS Padding & Margin with 2 Values

If you only put 2 numbers in, you may know that one value will be applied to both the top & bottom, and the other value will be used for the sides.

But again, which one is which?  

For this one, I remember that I want to stay ‘Top Side’:

margin: 5px 10px;

First value sets the Top (and bottom)

Second value sets the Side (left and right)

Maybe you’re way smarter than me and can just remember them without any tricks.  If not?  Hope this helped!

Now, who’s got one a mnemonic trick that helps them remember what padding vs. margin does?

PANELS

If you’d like to start planning which panels to attend, you might this blog useful like I did.  This was created by Tracy Miller, and posted on the McComb’s School of Business Blog:

33 Promising SXSW Biz Panels

AWM TIPS COMING MARCH 1st

Watch on March 1st for austinwoman Magazine’s new edition. The online content should have a list of tips and recommendations for getting the most out of attending SXSW. I’ll update this paragraph when the link is available.

PARTY (I mean Network) NOW

There’s a pre-SXSW networking event Feb. 22nd at Lustre Pearl’s.

RSVP for it until noon on Feb. 22nd.

PARTY (Network) THEN

Interested in parties? Austin 360’s got a solid list of them started.

There’s a Facebook group with Unofficial Parties, too.

THEN, RUN IT OFF

Want to burn off what you consumed too much of at the parties? There’s a Facebook running group. Looks like they’ve got their runs scheduled already, too, so you can plan ahead.

MORE SOON

I’ll post more links, suggestions and information as I run across them while planning my week at SXSW. And while I’m attending my intention is to blog each day about the panels and people of SXSW Interactive.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Are you going to SXSW Interactive this year? What parties, panels and people are you already planning to enjoy? What else are you looking forward to?

http://bit.ly/knucklerumbler

Who knows how I got there, but I found them. We’ll talk about tracking in one of my points.

As you know, companies are using social networking sites to communicate to their current clients, constituents and friends. As it becomes more familiar, as people and organizations start to realize the benefits frequently outweigh the risks, they’re coming up with creative ways of reaching out to new people.

It IS all about attracting attention to your company, your cause, or perhaps yourself, and the BEST way to do that is to prove that you’ve got something valuable to say, teach, or offer.

By pointing out a few things I noticed about Knuckle Rumbler’s campaign, some related to social networking, some not, perhaps it will give you some ideas for your own.

My suggestions & observations, in no particular order:
You can scroll down or click on them to hop down for more details.

1. FREE or GIVEAWAY Creates Action

2. Make It A No-Brainer To Decide

3. Compare, Contrast & Teach So It’s Easy To Understand

4. Give Credit; It Benefits You, Too

5. Spell Out The Action You Want Them To Take

6. Be Friendly and Personable, Even When You’re Communicating the Rules Of Your Game

7. Know What You Want From Your Campaign & Communicate That

8. Make It Easy to Pass It On

9. Encourage Them To Talk Back To You

10. Track Your ROI & Response Rate

11. Be Where They Are

12. Prove You’re A Valuable Asset To Them

Here’s the details:

1. FREE or GIVEAWAY Creates Action

They used the word ‘Giveaway’ prominently.  We’re in a recession.  Free is extra-compelling right now.

They drove traffic from wherever I was to their site.  That means whatever I saw convinced me to click.  Perhaps it was the VIP Wristband Giveaway title, combined with the fact that they’re in an area I already have an interest in: music.

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2. Make It A No-Brainer To Decide

When I get to their site, it’s EASY for me to see exactly who they are, what they do.  I can experience them through video and audio.

First, I don’t have to spend the time digging around to find that, or even worse, take the risk of spending the time to go SEE them to find out if they’re good.  I’ve been reading What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell.  He talks about a ‘pitch-man’ who believed the more you could see how something worked or what it was, the easier you could decide if it was for you, and the more you were convinced you could operate or benefit from what was being pitched.

Second, the audio and visual experience appeals to more than one sense.  Last year at SXSWi, I saw an excellent presentation on how involving at least two senses had much more impact than just doubling the impact of one sense.

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3. Compare, Contrast & Teach So It’s Easy To Understand

You might not know who Knuckle Rumbler is, but they mention others you might know.

Will it help to mention something or someone else who’s somehow related, involved, or similar to help your audience categorize or differentiate?

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4. Give Credit; It Benefits You, Too.

As part of helping you learn about them, they link to others, giving them credit, publicity and ‘link juice’ which is valuable for the others’ visibility to search engines.

Doesn’t hurt theirs either.

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5. Spell Out The Action You Want Them To Take

Knuckle Rumbler tells you EXACTLY what you need to do to act.  How to do that, where you need to show up, is bold, colorful, clear.

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6. Be Friendly & Personable, Even When You’re Communicating the Rules Of Your Game

They’re personable.  You get a sense of who they are. This is important when you’re on the social media sites, and it’s important when someone visits your website, too.

They tell you what THEY’RE willing to do, while they also make sure you know what’s not okay.  They let you know what will happen if you skirt their system, too.

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7.  Know What You Want From Your Campaign & Communicate That

Knuckle Rumbler wants you to get involved in order to win the prize.  You’ve got to make some effort.  After all, they want new fans, publicity, and interest.  This builds a fan base, fills venues and sells their music.

Their campaign supports their desire.  You can’t just fill out a form and be done with it.  You have to show up, you have to interact if you want the prize.

The more ‘touches’ they have with you, the more likely they are to impact you and keep you engaged if they’re a fit for you.

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8. Make It Easy to Pass It On

They make it easy to pass this information on, and they show visibly on their site how many others have passed it on, too.

Maybe you’re not interested in their music, but you know EXACTLY who is, and coincidentally, you know they’d do this kind of thing.

The easier it is for you to pass it on, the more likely you are to do it.   Sometimes even having to go to a new page is enough to make you bail.  Our attention span and willingness to click and navigate is scary short, isn’t it?

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9. Encourage Them To Talk Back To You

Right there on that page, there’s a comment section.  Doesn’t that say they want to hear from you?  A few blanks to fill out to make sure you’re for real, one button, and you’ve had your say.

Some would argue (and sometimes that includes me) that it makes it TOO easy for people to type before thinking.  There’s definitely a lot of comments on blogs that make me roll my eyes, especially when the commenters digress into attacking each other

But now I’ve digressed.  The content of the comments is often less important than the fact that there ARE comments.  That means someone’s looking, talking.  They’re there; they care.

For many of us, that’s what’s really important. (Confession: Unconcealed Hint!)

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10. Track Your ROI & Response Rate

You need to know what’s working and what’s not.

Knuckle Rumbler can track where it came from.  I gave you a shortened version of their URL so it was easier to open here.

So you don’t have to scroll back to the top of this post, here’s the URL again:

http://bit.ly/knucklerumbler

Once you click on my shortened version, you’ll be able to see their full URL in your browser.  See how it has Twitter in it?

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11. Be Where They Are

It’s essential, mission critical, for you to be where your potential audience is.

Visibility isn’t optional.

Even the big brands can’t sit on the front porch of their websites, hoping people stop in.  We want to see you in the park; we demand the ability to talk to you if you want us to care.

No more website porch; you’ve got to be in the social media park hanging out!

Yes, you still NEED the porch, the website, so when they’re interested, they can come over to your house.  But you can make some pretty close ‘friends’ just from showing up and playing the game.

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12. Prove You’re A Valuable Asset To Them

It’s important for you to know what you want from being there.  What game do you want to play, what friends, clients, connections would you like to find?

If you’re looking for monkey bar playmates, you shouldn’t be hanging out in the sandbox filling pails with little shovels.

It’s critical to know what to do when you get there, too.  If people are interested in kickball, and you’re a great first baseman, step up and give them what they want.  You’ll benefit, too, when the team of you and your audience kick a home run.

Winning for them wins for you, too.

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Your comments mean a lot to us here.  They help us create content that’s useful, they start conversations.  We learn from them.  What compelling examples have you seen from an organization creatively reaching out using social networking?

What did YOU notice about Knuckle Rumbler’s campaign that I didn’t?  And did you click on their video?

I’m a programmer, not a designer, a DBA, not an artist. Maybe that’s the base problem? Maybe my expectations are all wrong…but if I had two columns of numbers, and they both had the same numbers, and I added each column up separately to compare the totals, well, I expect to get the same answer.

So if I add 1+1+1 in one column, I get a 3. All good there.
And if I add up another column that has 1+1+1, well, I admit, I want a 3 again.

Mac seems to have a different mindset about this, though.

Here’s the scoop. I have two NAS drives. I copied subdirectories from one to the other because I want to clean some old things off the first drive.

The first drive’s name is boring. It’s just NAS. The second drive is called BigDaddy.

I copied, all went well.
Then, before I delete them off the first drive, I want to make sure all those files copied.

Check out the screenshots I got:

Areas of interest:
Upper right hand side of bigdaddy/sagedev says 182.4
Upper right hand side of NAS/sagedev says 2GB

Size: BigDaddy says 182.4MB
Size: NAS says 2GB

But then…in parenthesis…
Size: (185,516,295 bytes) on bigdaddy
Size: (185,516,295 bytes) on NAS
Um.

And it continues:
After size we have:
Size: for 2,075 items on bigdaddy
Size: for 2,075 items on NAS

Hm. I’m baffled.
I screenshot two other subdirectories I did the same thing with.
Same issue in each case. The number on the upper right and the first number in the size don’t match, however the details where it lists the bytes and number of files matches.

Ideas you Mac Daddies? Can I delete my old one, assured that the correct files copied over?? I’m afraid because I remember the day, not so long ago, when I was in a vi editor and accidently saved a file as a tilde (I can’t even MAKE the symbol for tilde anymore, I’m that damaged!) When I deleted that tilde? Pffft. POOF! GONE went my whole desktop never to return again. This got my Mac the nickname Jack, as in Jack Nicholson, as in Jacked up, not as in Apple Jack, the cereal.

Can you see why I’d be afraid? SOOO afraid in fact that I’m going to go to a WINDOWS machine and do the same test just to be sure.

Granted I DO so love the ability to easily take screenshots, but yano, I heard it was a requirement for programmers at Apple to take Calculus. Sure, there’s not a lot of actual 1+1 going on once you get to Calculus as I remember, but still…

Here’s our 2009 Holiday Card to you.

Telemarketers aren’t likely to use a website as a phone number source. They couldn’t be profitable if they had to compile their own lists by going to individual websites. They need long lists of people to call, so they can crank out hundreds of calls to reach the minute fraction who will actually have an interest in their offering.

Telemarketers obtain those long lists from directories, public records, or from a list brokers. The few telemarketers who may use your website to get your phone number don’t constitute enough of a distraction to warrant its removal.

Those who compile lists and directories may use your website to confirm your phone number that they’ve gathered from other sources, but they’re more likely to just pick up the phone and call. That’s a really quick call for them. They just need to hear your company name when you answer the phone, and they’re on their way.

The people you’re most likely to hinder by making your number inaccessible on your site are those who individually seek you out, and they’re the people most likely to call you regarding legitimate business that will benefit you.

Go ahead and make your phone number easy to find on your website for the sake of your legitimate business contacts. It’ll do you more good than harm.

And here’s a link to LiveScribe’s website

I’ll be blogging soon about some great uses for the LiveScribe pen, but it makes sense to let you read about what it is first, and THEN share what I’ve been using it for.

If you’ve got one, I bet you’ll agree it’s a Game Changer. If not, you’re missing something amazing. ]]> http://www.wildwoodinteractive.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=692