Dreamhost and CloudFlare recently joined forces to offer a sweet deal for Dreamhost users – free CloudFlare! I’m still learning about all the benefits of CloudFare then need to figure out what plugins I won’t need because of CloudFlare.
Just some random thoughts, concepts, and ideas before I forget.
This idea is inspired by HBOGo’s iPad app, specifically when watching the Game of Thrones. Sure, with HBOGo, you can watch selected HBO shows when you want over a high speed Internet connection. But with some shows like the Game of Thrones, the app unlocks interactive features associated with the show. Rotate the iPad from landscape to portrait view, and the extra screen real estate below the video now displays interactive content related to the show.
Now take that example and carry that over to other shows available via Oceanic Cable, namely Hawaii Five-0. There’s already lots of Twitter hashtagging and conversations going on during airing of the show. I’m guessing there are two devices involved – the TV and a mobile device (iOS, Android) for Twitter. What if that experience were united into the TWC TV app? Watch popular shows on your mobile device and watch the online social chatter on the same screen, even engage in the conversation through the app’s integration with Twitter.
Since Hawaii’s a geographic and temporal island due to the time zone difference, there may be sufficient local followings for other shows. Perhaps America’s Next Best Dance Crew featuring Flavahz Crew partially from Hawaii would be one of these social TV experiments?
A newly revamped service that sounds cool. There’s already a lot of competition in the home security space so the value proposition would need to be solid. Is it there? I don’t know. The features of the Intelligent House are cool, but really, do I want all that access and (private and secured) visibility? At the core of this is home security. That’s what really matters. If something’s going down in my home, I don’t necessarily want the ability to watch it in real time. I want someone to react in real time and act on the potential incident/intrusion. If I’m going to dish out monthly for this service, I want to rest assured that safety and security are paramount. The whiz bang tech is secondary.
I’m all for this one. Heck, once I heard about Oceanic’s Road Runner Extreme, I went for it at a reduced cost. Allowing customers to test run these services might hook them forever.
Besides trying out services, how about customizing your services. With RR Extreme, I got a new DOCSIS 3.0-compliant cable modem. From what I understand, this is the new industry standard for cable data networks and offers additional capabilities. Is it possible to set my own upload and download speeds (within reason)? There are times when I need fast upload speed (those HD videos take awhile). During these moments, can I “flip a switch” and reverse my up-to-down ratio. Then there are times, especially overnight, that I’d like to dedicate bandwidth for off-site backup services such as BackBlaze. Even if there were three pre-configured settings (normal, faster upload, faster download) I could easily change to, that would be welcomed.
This is a tough one that I don’t yet understand or fully appreciate the exchange. I can see having RSS feeds included on Oceanic property’s web sites. They get a lot of traffic, but where’s the win-win situation? Is it that as a content provider, you’d get name recognition that leads to more followers and more traffic)? Could be, but I don’t know if merely displaying RSS feeds is enough. Perhaps something more along the lines of a featured post or featured author would be better and magnified by a mention on the accompanying Oceanic Facebook account.
I guess it comes down to guest blogging which I frequently hear is a good tactic and also overcoming that fear and hesitation of contributing content elsewhere other than your own blog.
That’s it for now.
Update: Check out Damon Tucker’s blog and his coverage of the event via Google Hangout.
Stopping by Ben and Jerry’s for Free Cone Day, I saw this new addition to Windward Mall. Yep, that’s KIA as in cars and those rapping rats.
Today was a disappointing day. To end the day, a meeting I was actually looking forward to took place prematurely. There were a number of staff waiting for the meeting outside the meeting room which had the door closed. Usually, the closed door means do not disturb. So we waited patiently.
Thirty minutes later the door finally opens and those in the room said the meeting was done. It had started early with no disregard to those who were supposed to attend. Not one person in the entire roomful of people brought up the point that the meeting start should be delayed until the appointed time. So there we waited, people standing around, those on VTC, those on phone conference – all waiting for a meeting that was already underway and completed without our knowledge.
To make things painfully ironic, there is an initiative to improve meeting effectiveness. I am dumbfounded over this “meeting” and more sadly, I am disappointed.
(And win a new iPad!). First off, this Saturday, March 31, is designated as World Backup Day 2012. This is the first I’ve ever heard of this “event” but in this day and age of Internet memes and causes, I’m not surprised.
So on World Backup Day, please remember to save all your precious files. You never know when your hard drive will stop cooperating. To encourage backing up your files, many participating commercial vendors are offering up deals and prizes. My favorite online backup company, Backblaze, is offering up the chance to win a new iPad by trying out their service. Read the official rules here.
Try out the Backblaze trial and if you like the reassurance that your files are protected off-site by Backblaze, sign up for an account.
Facebook friends, Twitter followers – it’s all fun and games meeting people virtually. But when the virtual becomes real life struggles, it’s tough to face. Read the true bravery in Jen’s Cancer Blog.
I’m still (and will always be) a Draw Something scrawler. In my wildest dreams, I don’t ever seeing me draw something like this Jeremy Lin representation.
Even Coach Mike D’Antoni looks realistic!
Though Linsanity isn’t as fevered as a month ago, I still got my Linsanity tee.
The influx of shops continues for Windward Mall, the mall that cares. This week as I was looking for some Opae ula at Koolau Pets, I saw the (relatively) new Rainbowtique store selling all kinds of University of Hawaii gear.
Speaking of Rainbows, I hope the Men’s basketball team makes a run in the upcoming WAC Tournament. Let’s go Bows!!
Made a small change to Pulpconnection’s feature set. For each blog post, there’s a “You Might Like” recommendation section. Previously, these recommendations (with thumbnail images) were provided by Linkwithin. Linkwithin is simple to setup and get running, but there’s not much you can do to modify it.
I happened to come across a similar service called Outbrain. Again, a straight forward installation, but Outbrain provides a few more options, customizations, and a statistical dashboard. So for the time being, recommendations are now powered by Outbrain.
All I could think was, “Oh gosh, no,” when I saw this sign.
Is that supposed to say “jeopardy?” Okay, okay, this sign is for a kids activity to throw balls into the various nets, but I don’t know what “jeprady” is supposed to be. This is so wrong.
