if(navigator.userAgent.match(/iP(od|hone)/i) || navigator.userAgent.match(/Android/i)){ 					window.location. href="http://hellocalvin.com/m/index.htm" ; 		}

Then, I simply used this tutorial on how to make mobile ready pages (an oreilly book): 

Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Making App Store Apps Without Objective-C or Cocoa

Since jQTouch is really not that well documented, I went ahead and bought Peep Code's great video tutorial: Meet jQTouch http://peepcode.com/products/jqtouch

With these resources, I pulled together a simple rendition of my online home: http://www.hellocalvin.com

I even found an easy to install plugin for my wordpress blog that directs mobile browsers to a friendly version of my blog: Wordpress Mobile Pack http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-mobile-pack/

And I digress.

I just need to focus more on what I want to do and find the right tools to get me there.  I suppose I feel a little guilt in always relying on other's examples of code, so I resolve to start documenting some of the things I've done lately so that others may learn and google their own solutions

Posted via email from calweb’s posterous

Posted via email from calweb’s posterous

I think it’s safe to say that if you live in Charleston, SC and have a either a twitter account or do something with computers, then you already know about BarCamp Charleston, but what you may not know, unless you attended, is that something magical happened…at least for me.  I saw the reality of a community that supports each other, one that wants to learn from one another and relate.

As an outsider to Charleston (only 2 years in), I am truely inspired by how welcoming, intelligent, and sociable everyone has been.  With all the new social technologyness, it’s still hard to make ‘real’ connections and actually meet real people behind the monikers and profile pics.

Luckily, here in Charleston, #chs for some, it’s super easy because of all the ways to meet and greet:

• Lowcountry Bloggers – an aggregation of local blogs, with weekly, sometimes daily roundups
• Social Media Club Charleston – monthly meetups empowering others to use the likes of twitter, facebook, and other ’social’ media tools
• #chs hashtag - used regularly on twitter as a hub point to check out happenings in the Charleston, SC area, made popular by the efforts to standardize local hashtags on twitter.

And now, BarCampCHS….an annual ‘unconference’ – for a better explanation, go HERE

Being a planner gave me a unique perspective (a post dedicated to this will be coming), one that also was mixed with high hopes that everyone had a good time, learned a lot, and hopefully got to network and connect with some really cool people.  All in all, I think we set the ‘bar’ high as the comments have blown me away with the positivity….generally saying, “Barcamp Charleston has arrived, and is here to stay”  For that I am thrilled and anxiously await the next (after some recovery time, of course).

Some of my highlights (I’ll try to use the flickr photo pool to help illustrate)

Team 342 Robotics team and Summer Py-Games Initiative:

(photo:librarylion)

Meeting Dave Moulton (made bikes for olympians and wrote a book on rock and roll)

(photo:Eugene Mah)

Learning about and eating Bacon:

(photo:Chrys Rynearson)

And seeing happy people learning and connecting with each other:

(photo:Chrys Rynearson)

I’m so lucky to be here in Charleston, SC!  Just by being involved with planning this event, I’ve made at least 20 more friends!  Thank you!

As a former educator, I’m inspired by the interactions that happened because of BarCampCHS and am proud to be a part of it!

Thank you Charleston, I love you!

Here’s an awesome video made by Geoff Marshall – yet another new friend who’s sadly leaving #chs

Posted via email from calweb’s posterous

Many things contribute to global warming, and I’m not really interested in trying to wrap my mind around all of the issues surrounding this multifaceted, global issue.  Rather, I’d like to focus on how I try to be ‘green’ and what I think can or should happen to help tackle this global issue.

Some things in my life I DO that I feel help mitigate global warming.

• I walk or bike to work
  • I rent, and although I’m at that age where many of my friends are buying houses (which I hope to do in the next few years), I have the luxury to move about Charleston and pick where I want to live.  I’ve been fortunate enough to live right near where I work, which is awesome because not only do I get to sleep a little later, but I literally have to walk 100 yards to my office, and when I can/need, I can work from where I live (since I’m a web worker and can work from any computer with an internet connection).  I purposefully chose to live near where I work so that I can walk or bike and find huge rewards in time, money, and wear on my vehicle.
• I don’t buy bottled water when I can
  • I’m not saying this is evil if you do buy bottled water and there definitely has been debate on bottled water versus tap water safety, but I don’t drink bottled water when I can help it (sometimes I do) because it simply aids in the demand in creating more plastic…..which can be recycled, but regardless of being recycled or not, many plastics don’t make it to recycling facilities and end up in our waterways which, also lead to our oceans and become pellet-like and disrupt our ocean foodwebs….that, in turn, could exacerbate the environmental disturbance that causes global warming.  I like using my nalgene, and now more recently, my sigg water bottle because they are sturdy, hold a lot more than a bottle of water, and save on using more plastics.
• If it’s yellow, let it mellow
  • This may sound gross, but I try not to flush (mostly in the evenings till morning) the toilet everytime I go pee….because I don’t want to waste water, but think about it,  urine comes out sterile, unless you have kidney issues or a health problem, and it takes most bacteria about a day or so to reach a critical (stinky level)…so why not let them sit for an evening.  I, however, do flush every morning and clean my bathroom weekly.
• I use Compact Florescent Bulbs
  • Not only does this save some money over time, it also saves energy that otherwise would have been wasted with less efficient bulbs.  The one caveat is that they contain a little mercury, but if disposed of properly, then I feel like it’s still well worth the switch in money saved alone.
• I try to eat locally grown foods when my budget allows
  • I’m all about supporting our local farmers, but I feel like I am also eating healthier and doing my part in keeping all the expenses, gas, pesticides to a minimum because the food doesn’t need to travel as far (less gas used to transport), the food will tend to be more ‘in season’ and native to the area, unlike eating antibiotic ridden food…and the food will have less preservatives.  Win, win.
• I take full advantage of Charleston’s recycling program
  • I diligently try to recycle what I can to help reuse and reduce the amount of waste that comes from me.
• I cultivate my love and passion for the environment
  • I do this by making a point to do at least one fun thing in nature every weekend, whether it be surfing, kayaking, hiking, camping….the more I love our environment, the more accountable I feel to make sure I do my part.

Things I want to DO to help mitigate global warming

• Get an energy efficient vehicle
  • Biodiesel, electric….whatever I can do to get a vehicle that not only gets more miles to the gallon, but also dramatically reduces the amount of fuel consumption of a limited resource…and the less green house gases being release.
• Get more involved with educating others on things that can help  with the big issue of global warming.

Ideas floating around:

• Transparent Solar cells
• simplifying conversion of glycerin to methanol/ethanol for transesterification to reduce waste in making biodiesel
• research more on algae and alternative biomass fuel sources like switchgrass, soy beans, and corn
• convert wave energy more efficiently to produce power as well as wind energy and geothermal

I hope to add more to this post in the future, but this is what I feel and hope to do my part in helping mitigate global warming.

Yes folks, I have wave..since October 2nd.  I don’t know what I did to get an invite on October 2nd to please the powers that be, but chances are, if you are a techie or someone inclined towards social media, you’ve heard of Google Wave and how exclusive it has been for the past 5 months.

I’ve been watching the youtube videos, scraping every website I possibly could to get a handle on this new thing that many are saying will replace email.

Well, for now, I’m not going to try and pretend I’m an expert, but I do want to give my first impressions on this new and, dare I say, ‘revolutionary’ tool for collaboration.

Realizing I am in ‘preview’, Google does not make promises for stability and/or performance, which is understandable and fine by me.

Google Wave Interface

For the most part, the google wave interface is somewhat easy to navigate and largely resembles an inbox.

So there’s basically for sections – as shown in the above pic.

• (Top Left) – Inbox-like view where you see your ‘inbox’ posts by you, any queries you’ve saved, as well as folders you have.
• (Botom Left) – Shows where your contacts are, including robots.
• (Middle) – Is the current filter or query, whether it be “in:inbox”, “by:me” or any custom filters you’ve created..like: “with:public chs” or “with:public barcamp” – you can manually use the search box everytime and type in those queries, or save them under searches.
• (Right) – This is the active wave that you are viewing (if you didn’t maximiz the wave) – the little plus sign on the top adds contacts.

Robots/Gadgets

I believe this is what makes Google Wave standout (aside from having friends and coworkers using it).  Just from the demo on google and the many developers creating more robots/gadgets, there are already plenty and more to come…

Below is an example of Wolfram Alpha in Google Wave:

If you can’t quite see the computations, just click the picture to see a larger view.

Using robots is quite easy as you simply have to add them to your contacts, in this case: py-robot@appspot.com

Then to use them, simply add them to your wave and for Wolfram Alpha, you put your query in [brackets] and it will return your query

Here’s a few that I’ve found useful so far:

• Wolfram Alpha (add: py-robot@appspot.com) and use [brackets] to trigger the robot to compute.
• Bouncy (add:bouncy-wave@appspot.com) and use “bounce: emailofrobot@appspot.com” to remove a certain robot from a wave.  This could be useful if you need a robot for a limited time, but keep triggering it by accident.
• Tweety (add:tweety-wave@appspot.com) This connects to your twitter account, but would not recommend for public waves as people will be able to tweet on your behalf.  It basically puts the twitter interface in a wave that you can update.  This robot would be good if you have group or company twitter and are collaborating with a bunch of people and you want to make group updates as you finish things. (like judging a contest) or for an international team that will be updating throughout the evening/day.
• Posterous (add:posterous-robot@appspot.com) I havent used this one yet, but I imagine it will have the same functionality like in your email.

As of this writing Rosy, the translation robot doesnt seem to be active in ‘Preview”, but I suspect it will be back and probably in an ‘Apple-like’ store for purchase.

Extensions/Gadgets

One extension that I really like is Ribbit (shown below) which allows you to make conference calls with people in your wave, all they have to do is enter their numbers, and when they do, you simply click “Start Conference” so you can talk on the phone while you are collaboratively working on a document for something or another.

Of course, if you’ve seen the Google Wave Preview videos, you will also know that there is a “Starter Pack” of sorts, including the Maps and the Yes/No/Maybe which all will come in handy when you are working with others.

Thoughts/Impressions/Issues

I could go on and on about how how I think this may revolutionize the way we communicate, but like many other sources, I feel like it take a little savvy to move around as well as hunting around for the different robots and gadgets that make collaboration easy…however, things evolve, and I imagine as the userbase gets larger, it will become more and more easy to use.  The interface is easy enough to navigate, it’s just the performance is a little shoddy with the ‘realtimeness’ as well as using the queries and making a wave public.

As more developers make modules and robots to extend the functionality, I feel like businesses and organizations will start using Google Wave as a powerful tool, but right now, I think it’s so limited that people are mainly using it for chat and the wow factor by inserting gadgets and testing out the robots.

I personally think for community organizing and collaborating on projects, it’s ‘Game-on’, but as for replacing email, maybe, just maybe 5 years and sooner if they can mimic some of the valuable features of gmail such as the ways to select multiple emails and do bulk actions to.  Also, I’m not sure how you can remove people from waves, or if you just create new ones…..I definitely will be tinkering and trying to use this in my daily life….here’s a great video to explain google wave:

BarCamp Charleston Promo! from Dan Conover on Vimeo.

I feel like social media is all the rage nowadays, with everyone and their grandma signing up.  As a web developer, we have companies that call us all of the time that just shout out the ‘magic’ words of ‘twitter’, ‘facebook’, or ‘blog’.  My first gut reaction to hearing them ‘name-drop’ is that of excitement and said company harnessing the ever-increasing power of the internet to connect others, but oftentimes….someone or something ‘they’ read told them to do it…….because it’s free marketing….or is it?  If you just sign up for twitter and make 2 updates a month, the only followers you are going to get are bound to be spammers.  What is the value in that?

They don’t tell you that you have to work it, use these services regularly with quality content in order to garner a respectible audience, but as they say, “haste makes waste”.  However, why would I be grilling these companies for at least trying to harness some of the wonder programs that exist now to their advantage?  I should be extremely excited that they are becoming savvy and embracing these new technologies that they would have scoffed at even a few months ago.  Actually, I am extremely excited!

Social media is starting to get traction, everywhere. Period.  And I must say that it has me really giddy and hopeful to see how it evolves….hence this post.

Realizing the increasing ubiquity of social media, combined with ‘continuous  computing’…..reaching people in profound ways is now actualized in cyberspace.

To a fault, I am somewhat an altruistic person who loves connecting, organizing, and communicating with people…and, to this end, I seek ways to make this easier through technology.  I seek because I am inspired by what is NOW, currently being done!

Following are some truely amazing examples of how social media is shaping our world and helping others through education, action, and connecting.

  AnomalousNYC’s Palestine Project on FLICKR -

Relevant as it is right now with Obama trying to help out with the ‘two-state‘ solution between Palestine and Israel, this photostream really invokes strong emotions about the enormity of the human rights issues being broken by showing, with some artistic enhancing, some of what is going on in the West Bank and Gaza strip.

in this example of the use of flickr, anomalousNYC uses photojournalism to invoke emotion, which definitely invokes emotion.

    frontlinesms – is a revolutionary software tool that allows people to use the already ubiquitous cellphone as a platform for action.  People use it all over the world.  Basically, frontlineSMS is a piece of software that you install on your computer which allows you to send text (SMS) messages to cell phones.  many organizations have used it for their elections, observing elections, mobilizing people.  recipients of the text messages from this program can reply back as well…so you can send quizes and gather information.  You should check them out!

facebook – if you haven’t heard of facebook, then you’ve been out of the loop for sure!  the causes application is such a tremendous way to reach people.  back when causes were still new, i created this group “Save the Sea Turtles” which now boasts more than 18 thousand members….with over a $100 in donations to the nonprofit I chose.  with a click of a button, I can email all of these members and help educate people on these wondrous animals….all, with minimal effort!

 kiva – microlending is changing the world! just ask mohammed yunis, a nobel laureate…who started an idea that has been the foundation of kiva.org. It’s simple.  All you have to do is sign up on the site, have a debit/credit card handy…and make a minimum payment of $25 dollars and you can help lend to a host of people that are running their business.  What is cool is the ‘Web 2.0′ aspect of it.  If you are a person/family in need of money to help grow your business and you need, say, $1000….most people probably can’t give that amount, but with kiva….everyone contributes to the total.  You get monthly reports from these people…and they pay you back!  so you then can reinvest in someone else.  It’s amazing!

twitter – realitime information, on demand!  from your sms text phone, smart phone, iphone….computer, laptop…you and a network of individuals share information, almost as fast as chat!  It’s great!  What if there is a traffic accident in/near where you are going, many times…you wouldn’t know, but with twitter….if you set it up right, it’s right there.  (more in a later post)

youtube – ever see that funny video of that kid breakdancing?  how about learning about environmental education? or photoshop tutorials?

It’s simply amazing….and inspiring what social media can do!

We’ve extended our summer internship application deadline to
March 6, 2009.  Please pass it on! Or apply yourself for an opportunity
to join the
fantastic summer intern crew at Berkman. You can’t
spell Internet and without intern. That’s why the Berkman Center for
Internet & Society wants you!  Please see below for details.

If you have any questions about the opportunities, the projects, or the
Center at large, feel free to be in touch.

All best,
Becca

—

For 10 weeks each summer The
Berkman Center for Internet
& Society at Harvard University swings opens the doors of its
big yellow house to welcome a new group of smart, talented, energetic
full-time interns who are passionate about the Internet, democracy,
intellectual property, media, politics, and a slew of other things. The
interns team up with great projects like the Citizen Media Law Project,
Cooperation, Digital Natives, Internet & Democracy, the OpenNet
Initiative, StopBadware.org, and more, where they have an opportunity
for deep and substantive involvement in our efforts.

Positions
are available with most Berkman projects, and we’re looking for people
with a variety of interests and skill sets. While certain internships
are only available to law
students, many projects are looking for students enrolled in other
types of programs, including undergraduate, graduate and PhD. programs.

Summer internship positions are full time (35 hours/week), and the
summer program runs for 10 weeks from June 1 to August 15. 
While the positions are paid, please be forewarned that stipends may
not be sufficient to cover living expenses in the Boston area. No other
benefits are provided, therefore interns must make their own
housing, insurance, and transportation arrangements.

The word “awesome” has been thrown around to describe our internships,
but don’t take our word for it. Zack
McCune, a summer intern from 2008, had
this to say: “it has been an
enchanting summer working at the berkman center for internet &
society.  everyday, i get to hang out with some of the most
brilliant people on the planet. we talk, we write (emails), we blog, we
laugh, we play rock band. and when things need to get done, we stay
late hyped on free coffee and leftover food. it is a distinct honor to
be considered a peer among such excellent people. and i am not just
talking about the fellows, staff, and faculty, though they are all
outstanding. no, i mean my peers as in my fellow interns, who are
almost definitely the ripening next generation of changemakers.”

We know what you’re thinking. Yes please. I want that. That sounds
magical. Did I mention I’m really good at “Rock Band”?

Here’s what you should do…

To apply for a summer internship position, please send by the March
6th deadline:

• a
  letter of interest, describing your skills and interests, and
  indicating the area of research and the Berkman projects in which you
  have interest;
• a current version of your resume;
• the contact information for two references (professional or
  academic)

to Berkman’s community coordinator, Becca Tabasky, at
rtabasky@cyber.law.harvard.edu

Feel free to be in touch if you have any questions.  We look forward
to hearing from you!!

—–

Summer Intern Eligibility:
* Summer interns are students enrolled in a undergraduate, graduate or
PhD. program of study.
* Summer interns do not have to be affiliated with Harvard University.
*
We welcome summer interns from universities across the world, however
we can not pay international students who have not yet received an
undergraduate degree. ]]> http://thinksea.info/blog/2009/02/13/deadline-extended-summer-2009-internship-program-applications-d/feed/ 0 http://thinksea.info/blog/2009/02/13/seo-yo-an-introductionpt-1/ http://thinksea.info/blog/2009/02/13/seo-yo-an-introductionpt-1/#comments Fri, 13 Feb 2009 06:18:52 +0000 admin http://thinksea.info/blog/?p=252 While I am a confessed novice when it comes to most of these latest trendy phrases, I’ve decided to try and explain what it means to me here, then try to offer my evaluation of the ecology of how SEO and Web 2.0 are related.  This is obviously a vast subject that is alive with information.  I don’t feel like one post could do it justice, so I hope to accomplish more with multiple posts on this subject.

SEO -
Search Engine Optimization, period… How do we find things on the internet/web?  Search engines, of course,.. well, mostly.  With most internet browsers making their automatic homepages that of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft or some other variant, it’s hard to discount how people move around in the vastness of the internet world.

One of my favorite quotes sums it up nicely:

What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it. -Herbert Alexander Simon, economist, Nobel laureate (1916-2001)

The Internet = Information in my eyes…and it creates a “…poverty of attention” and the best way to “allocate” that attention, at least via the web, is to use search engines.  Most people that have used the internet know this.  Some type it into the address bar of the browser, some go to their favorite search engine, usually a home page, but if you use the internet, you know what a search engine is all about.

Well, that was lengthy!  If you have a website, chances are you want people to view it.  For online business, this links to thier ‘bottom line’, or otherwise their profit.  With the really high ROI (Return on Investment) involved with creating a website, businesses are increasingly turning to the web for profit.  Ever wonder why Google.com is so rich and had such a record breaking IPO?  Because their reach is virtually unmatched on the web.  And if you want to be seen by the average web surfing consumer, then ranking high on google is a no-brainer.  And when I say, “ranking,” I mean showing up ‘organically’ in the search results.  An ‘organic ranking’ is the natural order of websites that are listed when you perform a search on a search engine such as google, not the sponsored links or ads you usually see.

So knowing that having a high ranking in a search engine is valuable, mostly because it will make ‘your’ website become more visible to the world, is the first step in understanding SEO – Search Engine Optimization.  And knowing how to make sure your website will rank well in search engines is definitely a big step in getting visitors to your site.  Having the skills to make a website rise high in ‘organic rankings’ can also earn you a lot of money.  Conversely, having someone to get your website to rise high in ‘organic rankings’ can cost you a lot of money.

Luckily, there are many things you can do for FREE  with a little planning and a lot of initial hard work.

Planning
If you have a website and need to retool or are a new website owner and have no clue on how to get people to see it without spending unsightly amounts in passing out the website address, then follow me.

Planning, especially when considering SEO, is one of the single most important time savers when it comes to getting what you want out of your website. Here are a few questions to ask yourself.

1. Who will find my site valuable?
2. Does my website have a regional, national, or international appeal?
3. Am I trying to make money from my site?
4. What makes me stand out from the rest of the websites that are similar to mine?

Knowing you want to make money from your site, puts it in a whole different world when it comes to SEO.  Whether you want to put ’sponsored links’ on your site so that google pays you or if you want to sell products with your own shopping cart software, or making sure potential donors have a chance to do their due diligence before giving your organization money, having a good SEO plan is definitely key in being successful in bringing your presence to the masses.

4. What makes me stand out from the rest of the websites that are similar to mine?

It’s always about selling yourself, right?  So why are you so great?  Why do I want to visit your site?  Think of your website as a version of yourself or business online.  Or, even simpler, a personals ad.  You want to be attractive, not deceptive.  So maybe a personals ad isn’t the greatest example, at least in the deceptive part, but I digress…

Knowing what makes you stand out helps to shape your story (people love stories, I promise).  By defining what makes you special, you not only have a good marketing spiel to bring to the table, but it makes your site have more, what I like to call, integrity.  Knowing who you are and exactly why you want to be online directs your goals for your website.   And being honest with your site visitors builds a brand and trust.  People will like you and what you stand for, even if your website isn’t the prettiest.

To be continued…

Seeing as how SEO is such a huge topic, I thought breaking up into digestable parts.  Here, I discussed, albeit briefly, the planning.  In future posts I am going to dissect out some simple principles in optimizing your website: keywords, meta, h1 tags as well as content, while talking about keyword density, easy navigation, etc.  Then, I plan on talking about funneling and conversion rates….eventually leading to online marketing campaigns, blogs/social media and building community and loyalty to your site.