It’s been a crazy while since I’ve updated here, and with SXSW 2011 come and gone and tons happening, here’s the latest on what I’ve been up to:
Bit Love Media | GirlGamer.com, DreadCentral.com & Ani.ME Teamup!
I started GirlGamer with a core team around the idea of creating online cultural communities around super-niche enthusiast audiences. The platform we developed combined editorial publishing, social networking, and a lifestyle brand to create a unique engaged digital space for fans. Recently, we’ve taken the same platform to launch a new site Ani.ME (which has just hit over 100,000 Facebook Fans & announced a HUGE partnership) and we’ve teamed up with DreadCentral to make a first-of-its-kind enthusiast lifestyle network. Check out the new site and network at Bit Love Media. Combining operations under one network also allows us to run more effeciently, reduce cost, and increase focus. We are currently considering an angel round to allow us to scale. Contact me over twitter @mikeprasad or email mike at bitlovemedia.com if interested.
RaiseGood.org | Consumers & Brands team up to raise donations for causes.
At SXSW I was hanging out with a bunch of people working in the cause space talking about the Japan Crisis, and realized that while there were many ways to donate, the mode value of the average donation rarely changes, that is, most people donate less than $20. I also saw big brands wanting to help but many of them stumbling or not optimally being effective. After thinking for a while and randomly being on Kickstarter checking out a project I backed, I came up with the idea of combining big brands, Kickstarter-esque incentivizing and GroupOn/Woot style deals. Over the second half of SXSW Interactive I rapidly developed the idea into what is now called Raise Good. I brought in @Jerram to help with development, along with teaming up with MissionFish to facilitate 100% charity donations (no fees) and we are now getting ready to launch this week! Right now we are looking for big brands to work with for our launch to benefit the current Japan crisis!
Aperture {M} | My photography portfolio.
I actually launched this a bit ago and most of my photography can be found on my Flickr, but I wanted to start offering canvas prints for sale. Prices range from $250 to $2,000 depending on size. Through at least the end of April, any of my photo prints or canvas prints sold will have all profits go to the Red Cross and Save The Children Japan. If you’d like to order one, let me know!
I’m also still doing limited consulting work via {M} Consultancy but am being very selective. Let me know if you have any interest and we can see if it’s a good fit.
So now you know what I’ve been up to.. What have you been up to?
Ever since Myspace sucked up all the cool kids in L.A. (@Percival, @TonyAdam, etc..) I had been wondering what kind of awesome they had been working on. Well today, the #NewMyspace Preview launched, and a few lucky people also received a preview box in the mail. The #NewMyspace is to be all about showcasing your creative life. See the unboxing pics below, and here’s hoping we have a viable competitor to the big FB.
Check out the #NewMyspace at http://www.myspace.com/newmyspace
Facebook launched their new and much talked about Groups feature today. Mashable has full coverage on the live event this morning about each feature (definitely worth a read) but decided to get my digital hands dirty and test out Facebook Groups around some specific use cases. But before I get to those, let me give you a quick overview of some key aspects that make it interesting beyond just group status updates:
Groups have Privacy Types which allow for very different uses. Open, Closed, and Secret which hide or show the group members and/or content.
Group Members must be invited or approved by request which allows for peer and admin curated growth.
Groups have Events which are owned by the Group and Group Admin and in addition to normal event features, can be limited to only Group Members.
Groups have Shared Docs which, while admittedly simplistic, can be used for collaboration and wiki-type information sharing and updating.
Groups have Real-Time Group Chat which could allow for real-time virtual meetings and live private discussion.
So now you about Facebook Groups unique features. Now here are the 3 Groups I created, each for a different type of use case:
Real Example #1: WOWee Ambassadors of Sound (link)
This is an example of a group for a business and marketing/branding use. I created it for {M} Consultancy’s new client WOWee One for which we are working on growing a grassroots community base. The idea is to offer a VIP group for fans from the existing WOWee One Fanpage that really love, support and want to represent the brand and product, which is a portable rechargeable power bass speaker for iPhone/iPad/Portable Gaming/etc.. I made it a closed group (members are publicly visible but content is not) because we will have special offers and access only for fans that decide to become brand ambassadors. Also, the private content adds to the “VIP’ness”. Fans can request to become an Ambassador or other Ambassadors can invite a friend into the program. This allows WOWee to support and award fans who really help grow the brand community.
Tip: Don’t forget to upload a group avatar and write a decent description.
Real Example #2: #LAFoodieCrew (link)
This is an example of a enthusiast community group. If you know me, then you know I’ve been a huge foodie way before my involvement with @KogiBBQ. A lot of us LA Tech people are always meeting up for dinners, tastings, and other random noms. To date, it’s always been organized by a mishmash of tweets, texts, calls or occasionally eventbrite . Inevitably, someone misses out. Solution? Create a space on Facebook, where we all have profiles, to suggest and coordinate around our meetups and share our love for good food! Within 20 minutes, we already had our first meetup scheduled! Since I like brands, I came up with a quick name and logo to bring it all together. I setup a Group Doc to list meetup ideas and used Group Events for setting up official meetups. Since it is an Open Group, anyone can see and share meetup details, local foodie posts, and join via any member. This allows us to coordinate and share both as a group and with potentially interested Facebook users. One nice aspect is that a Group Event is owned by the Group, but can also be shared and opened up for anyone to RSVP.
Group Events and Docs are shown on the #LAFoodieCrew Group Page
Group Docs is used to organize, propose and collect meetup ideas
Group Events are automatically related to the group and members are automatically invited. Making it a public event also allows anyone else to RSVP.
Real Example #3: Pivotal LA
This is an example of a private community group. Years ago, when the L.A. Tech Community and Scene all but existed, a number of key organizers, influencers and community leaders teamed up as an unofficial group called Prototype LA. We shared resources, hookups, advice, and coordinated to foster and grow a tech scene in L.A. Over the years, we’ve kept in touch via an unofficial mailing list, but most of us still worked directly, which limited our individual effectiveness when helping each other out. Another thing that happened is that the people that I considered pivotal within L.A. tech grew, moved, and moved across areas of focus. I wanted to connect all these people and give the original Prototype LA group an update. By creating a closed (but not secret) Facebook group, anyone could see who is involved and but we now have private space to collaborate and share resources. This type of limited-but-not-hidden visibility also allows us to slowly grow the group via peer approval and hopefully the fact that it exists on Facebook, a platform we all interact with daily, will assure that the group doesn’t stagnate when all of us get too busy, as we frequently do.
So there you have it, 3 real examples and use cases for Facebook Groups. Whether they will all prove useful in the long-term, we will have to see. But they each are off to a good start. Each case solves a specific problem or provides a specific use for the parties involved. More than just a list, which are much more limited, I’m sure we will see some more interesting uses of Groups in the next weeks.
Is there anything I think Facebook Groups is lacking? Sure, I’d love to see some Twitter integration, or even more some, Shared Group Files that can be uploaded, which would rock for clubs, college groups, private business uses, etc.. but it’s a pretty good start as is. And this is coming from a guy who generally hates Facebook..
Have any examples of how you are using Facebook Groups? Think some of the above examples have could be better? Post below along with your comments!
All of us in the Los Angeles Tech Community have been working our asses off the this year, and in that time, we’ve been doing some pretty innovative things! Help us bring those ideas and innovations to SXSW 2011 by voting and commenting via SXSW Panel PIcker. I’ve compiled a list of L.A. people with panel ideas for SXSW 2011, pick your favorites (check mine out!) and support the community! Voting ends August 27 so don’t wait!
If your panel isn’t listed, leave a comment here or @/DM me and I’ll add it!
List last updated August 26:
If you want to support even more, RT this list! -> RT @mikeprasad: Support #LAtech! Check out our panels for @SXSW, vote & RT! http://bit.ly/laatsxsw
I’m sure there are lots of people with lots of theories for the movie Inception.. I haven’t read any and just saw the movie 30 minutes ago. I’m sure my quotes aren’t verbatim, but heres my take:
*** CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
Theory:
The entire “real world” in the movie is a dream. We’ll call it Layer 0 (Since they go 3 layers deep in the movie). Cobb represents himself, all others are projections of his subconscious which, as he says, he cannot control. The entire movie is a battle between his conscious and subconscious. Overall theme = is ignorance bliss?
Key Roles:
Cobb = His conscious self
- All rules are “set” by him.
- Only he “breaks” the rules.
- He’s the top Extractor in his world.
- Its ALWAYS about him.
- Cobb’s totem is a top, representing him spinning himself around within a false reality, and he never stops spinning.
Ariadne = a free version of him
- Can do what Cobb won’t let himself do
- Inner child/innocence.
- Cobb brings her into his path, helps him control/own himself. Professor states this before introducing him to her. He has to own her role to progress.
Saito = Aspect of Himself from a higher layer (call it layer -1 / true reality)
- The only person within the world that has control over Cobb.
- He sets the original test and determines worthiness, which Cobb fails (foreshadowing)
- He has the power to give Cobb what he wants, or force him to fail in his path.
- Old man in Limbo, almost forced to “die alone”
- Has to fulfill his agreement to Cobb.
Fischer = The battle between his conscious and subconscious
- Fights against himself
- Cobb has to play him to get hat he wants i.e. Cobb has to convince himself to believe what he wants to believe.
Mal = His active subconscious, the “messenger” between conscious and subconscious
- Represents the knowledge that Cobb deep down knows but wants to bury and forget, that his world is a dream.
- Is buried and stated “locked in” by false memories
- Its stated that Mal is his inseparable other half.
Plot:
Movie starts with Cobb failing due to Mal intercepting in dream. Mal is protecting Saito which represents a wise, real Cobb in a higher level who knows. Saito considers Cobb’s proposal and states this was all a test and Cobb failed (forshadowing). Cobb is forced into a situation where he must face Saito’s presented dilemma. Most of the main part of the movie is Cobb fighting with his subconscious, to determine what will ultimately become of him. Fischer represents the same thing Cobb is doing to himself, and just like it is stated that catharsis is most powerful in changing Fischer, catharsis for Cobb is moving beyond Mal and ultimately seeing his children.. It allows both Fisher and Cobb to live a life based on a false premise. Saito is injured as he is then incapable of choosing for Cobb, and beyond presenting the dilemma of choice, only plays a contributing role at the end. Cobb also plants the “inception” in Mal shows that the real Cobb knows the truth, and has to fight himself to an extreme to bury it, as inceptions are powerful, grow and can “come to define or destroy a man”. Everything happening to each character represents the issues Cobb has with himself, such as Mal locking away a truth = him locking away the same truth. In the end, despite Mal trying to convey the message that his reality is a dream and convince him, Cobb fights so hard and chooses to stay in a world thats a bit too perfect. His desire to remain ignorant and denial is so strong and he fights what he otherwise knows “deep inside” that he may be happier that way. Cobb can’t make a leap of faith, and so his chosen ignorance is his bliss. And so at the end, when he looks at the spinning top about to go awry, it seems about to fall until he looks at his “too perfect” children. Then when he looks away, it’s spinning perfectly in the center (away from where it was before), signifying he is still in a dream but he has decided what he wants to believe after being given the choice.
Hmm, that’s my theory at least. If you assume the theory and the key roles, I think you’ll see that all the key details within the movie fall into place to support it. To me the whole movie is a macro look at the process someone goes through when they choose ignorance as bliss and fight what they know to deny something they aren’t happy with or to avoid facing uncertainty and make a leap of faith. The only uncertain gap I see is what type of reality would drive Cobb to bury himself in a false one to determinedly? Well perhaps its what Saito says in the beginning and in the end to convince Cobb to make a choice: He doesn’t want to be fated to become “old and die alone, waiting for something that will never come.” The same fear we all have, on some level, and the same fear that often drives us to accept lives that are often not what we dreamed, yet convince ourselves is best.
Interesting sidenote: Mal could be short for Malachi which has a Hebrew etymology meaning “my messenger”
So that’s my 2 cents, for what its worth… Agree or disagree, leave me a comment!
Let me preface this. I’m NOT a programmer.
That said, I like to think that I’m as close to being a programmer that a non-programmer can be. I’ve directed and/or worked with dev teams in 3 languages (PHP, Django/Python, Java), and can spec out and work with everything from database details to core functionality to top-level architecture to UI/UX with awesome HTML + CSS + Javascript. All that aside, I’ve only had limited hands-on experience with revision control systems, and then only with Subversion, and not Git.
Since my current (and awesomely awesome) dev team uses Git, and I’ve been doing a lot of template revisions, changes and drafts myself, I had to learn to how get Git on the fly today. Nothing like jumping all the way in eh?
If you don’t know what Git is, according to Wikipedia:
Git is a distributed revision control system with an emphasis on speed. Git was initially designed and developed by Linus Torvalds for Linux kernel development. Every Git working directory is a full-fledged repository with complete history and full revision tracking capabilities, not dependent on network access or a central server.
A.K.A. it helps teams of software developers work together and coordinate on the same project without screwing up each others work. Since I’m making tons of template changes, my dev team needed an easy way to track my changes between my local copy through implementation on the live site (in this case www.girlgamer.com and www.ani.me). At its core, Git runs entirely via command line.
Oh, Command Line, I love you for your awesome power but hate you for your syntax.
The beauty of Git via command line is that is that it is super-powerful and execute many advanced functions that have no easy way to be done via a graphical user interface (GUI). The downside for me is that for my use case, mainly changing and committing front end template HTML, I would never need any of the advanced functions. Ideally for me, a good easy GUI would suffice, and be optimal. Even better, would be having built-in support from Coda (OS X/MAC), which I use for my edits, but that doesn’t exist yet. After reviewing TONS of options, and finding ideally great, but now defunct, GUI projects, I’ve come up with the following:
- Install Git and link it with your repository @ GitHub (see below for a quick and dirty how to)
- Grab GitX (Great for viewing commits, or alternatively BrotherBard’s fork) & GitY (For most other things) + Plugins for Coda http://justinhileman.info/git-for-coda
- Grab GitBox (An alternative to GitX + GitY) http://gitbox.pierlis.com/
Once setup via command line, I should never have to go back to command line. I can use GitX/GitY as a plugin from Coda for tracking updates, else I can use GitBox for pushing/committing my changes.
Getting set up, quick and dirty.. well not so dirty.
If you don’t know how to set up Git on OS X, here’s the process that @brosner led me through (it’s easier and shorter than it looks):
Now from here onward, I plan on using Coda to edit and GitBox or GitY to commit and push changes to GitHub. I’ll let you guys know how that goes. But you should be good to go. If you have a better way or a suggestion, or if Coda finally starts supporting Git, let me know!
Also, here are some resources for jumping in a bit more (also from @brosner):
Now back to work for me..
“Arbitrary exclusivity & non-resource-based caps on access is such bullshit. It only hurts PR & growth. Sadly, seeing a lot @ E3 this year.”
“Employing tricks like needless pagination, auto-refreshing (see Salon.com), misleading headlines, and the like is cheating. You didn’t earn those pageviews, you tricked people into giving them to you. And then you look at shit like popups, popunders, double underlined links, Snap previews, Tynt scripts, and so on, and it’s pretty clear how hostile it all is. It’s nothing but money-grabbing. If you’ve got it set up so bad that your readers are employing things like ad blockers and Safari’s Reader, you fucked up. You did something wrong. You overestimated how much your readers are willing to tolerate.” — Richard Dunlop-Walters (via marco) (via bui)
the new guy: What I’ve Learned in Geeks On a Plane (SO FAR) - Explained in Board Games -
China Vs. Other BRICs & Developing Countries
As a communist government, China is incredibly efficient. Shanghai (now #1 by population) and Beijing (now #9) are two of the largest and most advanced cities in the world - through the ’08 Olympics and ’10 World Expo the government poured ton’s…
Welcome aboard geeks! :) RT @davemcclure: wheels up SFO. #GOAP on way to Shanghai, by way of Korea. China here we come! #FTW
Asiana Airlines
After a very, very, very long flight via @AsianaAirlines into Incheon Airport, Korea, us geeks are getting a much needed interwebs and power fix at the Asiana Business Lounge before we catch our flight to Shanghai. On a side note, service on Asiana was REALLY good, once we took off, EVERY passenger was personally greeted and tier assigned steward/stweardess introduced themselves (and this is economy folks, not business class).
Anyway, so far, its been fun, I got to sit next to the always fun @DaveMcclure on the flight in, and even setup an ad hoc wifi network for a little inter-plane chatting I sort of hacked together.. but more on that later (here’s a teaser by @DanielGruneberg).. for now here are some pics so far (after the jump)!
(Also, you can live vicariously through the #GOAP Twitter List, kindly setup by @Edaz)
BIG THANK YOU TO @ASIANAAIRLINES FOR THE LOUNGE ACCESS!!
Just off the plane!
The Geek Army headed to Asiana Lounge
Mr. @DanielGruneberg
Dave McClure’s personal VIP line.
Which way to go?
Dave and (I’m damn jealous of) his personal videographer.
Us geeks getting our fix.
