Ed Buford - Just Another Geek

Twitter

Over the past year I’ve slowly become more and more hooked on Twitter. For me it started out slowly and grew. At first I didn’t really understand the potential, but the longer I’ve used it the more I see the beauty of it. Although it’s called micro-blogging by some, I don’t see it as a blogging tool. Instead I see it more like a group chat. Sometimes the topics are funny, sometimes random, sometimes rhetorical, sometime helpful and sometimes thoughtful, or insightful or inciteful; but always interesting. 

The trouble with any group chat is that the more people who are talking at once the higher level of noise there is. Some people can go back and catch up on older tweets, but for me Twitter is like the Matrix, you have to look at it live and raw. Because of that I tend only follow a few people, lest I never get anything done. Even though I don’t follow as many people as I’d like, I can receive tweets from anyone who puts my twitter name in a tweet (as long as I haven’t blocked them). Which, by the way I do block spammers and shady characters of all kinds.

If you’re trying twitter for the first time, chances are you already know someone using it; find out what their twitter names and follow them. Also look at who they follow, chances are they are following other people you know. I suggest you give it enough time to let it sink in, see if makes sense to you, chances are it just might.

You can follow me at http://twitter.com/ebuford and see who I follow as well. Happy Tweeting!

iPhone Fanboy?

Well I guess you wouldn’t call me a fanboy but I’ve become an iPhone evangelist over the past month. From my experience it’s light years ahead of the win mobile phones as a PDA and it’s a pretty good phone to boot.  I predict that you’ll either buy an iPhone or look seriously at buying in 2009.

…and nothing to wear.

In my closet there is a stack of T-shirts 3 feet high. I have T-shirts that are gifts from my daughter, my sons, my friends, my relatives, vendors, from a game show, from work, from kayak races and from paintball tournaments. All of these shirts have someone else’s logo or pithy saying  I have identified myself with many of these shirts from time to time and some of these shirts have been my favorites at different points in my life.

I realized something recently and it’s become a road block to getting dressed in the morning. I was amazed to discover there is not one T-shirt that I own which was picked out by me. Now most people who know me are used to seeing me in T-shirts and blue jeans, but it’s strange to think that some people may have been trying to understand who I am by decoding my T-shirt collection, which technically isn’t mine.

Now when I come to the simple task of choosing a T-shirt, I’m dumbfounded, I can’t choose a shirt that is me, because none of these shirts were ever really me.  So like a totally  overwhelmed traveler standing in shampoo isle at the local drug store , I feel paralyzed and I can’t make a simple decision; seconds seem like minutes, minutes like hours. This simple process has broken down for me because I’ve been a passive player in my wardrobe collection. Now its’ time to become active in choosing my wardrobe without crossing that most feared line of MetroSexuality.