So the mad rush is finally over! Everyone had the opportunity to be the first to get their own names as a Facebook link. I’ve been curious as to who made the cut so to speak. Happily I can say I was able to secure mine, beating out all the other Shane Isaacs’s in the world… sorry guys, lol.

You can now find me at http://www.facebook.com/shane.isaacs. This is so much easier than trying to add the old links or run it through it a redirect. I’ve checked out a few of my friends so far, ones I thought for sure would have jumped on this, but they missed the boat apparently… or went for something cooler maybe?? So lets find out what everyone got! Come one, post yours in the comments below! If we are not friends yet please feel free to add me!

In case you haven’t done yours yet, or don’t know how, here is what to do. Log into Facebook and then click this link http://www.facebook.com/username and follow the instructions. That’s it! Then leave a comment showing off your new Facebook link!

Every second of every day millions of tweets, status updates, post and comments flutter through the air waves seeking their intended targets. At home, work or on the road with our laptops and cell phones we have the ability to tell the world everything we do, as we do it, and hear what others have to say about it instantly. The digital diary of our lives and those we share it can be viewed, reviewed and interpreted immediately by those we chose to express ourselves to. This inevitably leaves the opening for the abbreviated versions of our feelings or ideas to be misconstrued unwittingly and taken in the wrong context.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the concept. Use it too. It’s just that as this becomes more and more the norm for communication I wonder if a little more thought should be put into what we say. This doesn't stem from a personal experience mind you, so all of my friends or followers and ect can breathe easy now, lol. What got me thinking about this was another stream I was watching. Basically I took the weekend off to spend some time with my family. When Monday rolled around and I was catching up on everything that happened while I was out I came across a feed between two friends that I was not sure how to take. Then I began wondering how each of them had taken what the other said also. My first impression was of offense that he/she would have been replied to that way, what was theirs? Or was I just misreading to original post becasue I was feeling a little pressured to get caught up?

You see, if you think about it, unless someone specifically posts their emotions in their update we, those who read it, will transfer our own current emotions into what they wrote. If your feeling happy you’ll read happiness into most posts and, likewise, if your feeling sad you may read sadness into others updates as well. With this form of open and public communication that is also condensed into the size of a text message there is an integral and required component missing from a true conversation, feeling. Feelings are the basic foundations of communication and humanity. People being able to relate, empathize and share an emotional experience with another person all starts from being able sympathize with that individuals current state.

When we speak with our friends, associates, co-workers and so on, whether face to face or over the phone, there is always the conveyance of their feelings when they speak to you. You can see it in their face, their body language or just hear it in the tone of their voice. You can then process this input to make appropriate and meaningful conversation based on the other persons emotionality.

Email was bad about this also but at least with email you had an unlimited amount of characters to describe what you were feeling and it’s more personal. Just like writing a letter an email is targeted only to those who you feel will understand what you’re trying to say and respond in kind. Being that we are for the most part a verbal society the need to express ourselves and communicate is as constant as the need to breathe. So what starts to happen when that need is restricted? If we don’t die we adapt. Unfortunately adaptation typically is an evolutionary process that can take thousands if not millions of years.

Again, this is not about condemning or chastising the technology. I love it, I use it and I promote it but that doesn't mean I don't think it’s flawed. To be more accurate I should say that we’re flawed in respect to properly using the technology. Where do we go when a simple update, abbreviated to the bare minimum, looking for reassurance or enlightenment is treated, unintentionally, with sarcasm or condemnation? What about the innocent annotation to hook for lunch being misconstrued as a offer for sex? Or the hundreds of other little things, every tweet, every update, every post leaves open to the interpretation of those reading it whether it was meant for them or not?

So what do we do about it? How do we learn to communicate relevantly through such limited means? Do we preclude each update with an emotion such as “:sad: Today was a heck of a day!” or “:happy: Today was a heck of a day!” so our feelings are not transparent but blatantly obvious? What about the developers including emoticons with every message so you have a little bitty face to show everyone how you feel? Or, better yet, what about us, as users of the technology, just realizing that instant messaging doesn't have to be instantaneous. Sometimes it may be prudent to think before we tweet. That extra 15 to 30 seconds may just help to make someone's day rather than ruin it.

Maybe this seems like I’m making a big deal for such a little issue and I’d probably agree. I don’t think millions of people are being misunderstood, offended or hurt. Nor do I think more safeguards needs put in place to ensure everyone's feelings are protected like some giant textual daycare. I do believe most people understand that this form of communication isn’t the way to really express private personal issues… yet. I also think we are heading that way though and maybe, just maybe we should start thinking about that.

Yesterday we shut down for about an hour to restructure the directories of the website. You should not notice any difference in the operation of the site from this update.

If you do please report them by posting a comment here or using the contact link above. The types of issues that may arise from this are missing pictures, broken links or 404′s.

I think I updated everything accordingly as I modified the directories but there always seems to be that one thing that got missed.

Thanks!

Ok. Everyone is always asking me where I come up with some of the stuff I do. Am I just not ‘right in the head’? Maybe I was dropped on my head as a baby. Some just want to know exactly how far away were the power lines from my house. Well I have proof, right here, that it is not just me! My whole family is nuts (and I mean that in the nicest and most loving way, of course). Recently this little tidbit of humor scrolled across my FaceBook:


That is my brother, Jr High School History Teacher and Basketball Coach, Jaime. He is a super duper crazy sports fanatic and posting that he is thinking of getting the tattoo ‘Tarheels for Life’ on his belly! Now I personally think that out trumps any of my ideas hand down. Is he joking?? Well, whether he does it or not, if you think he’s anything like me, then you can be sure he is seriously considering it!!

I hate being outdone! So what can I do about this? How about a life-size Elmo on my back? It might be prudent to do something a little less subtle than a giant red puppet on my back though. What about a smoking hot redhead down my arm? That would be a little less disturbing and more ‘guyish’ but it could possibly be a little harder to explain (to certain people if you know what I mean). I could just get Niche Store Market and my logo somewhere on me. That could be an idea there.

Of course this is all dependant on if my brother actually does it and leaves me ‘something to prove’ of course… or is it?? Do I maybe see the makings of a new contest here? Hmmmm….

I know its there. I know this feature is available. I know I’ve seen it before… BUT WHERE IS IT! Maybe it’s the newest FaceBook Update hiding the formerly quick and easy link to find your own feed or maybe I just got lucky before but I know I’ve seen it. It really is remarkable how hard it is to find and since there really is no way to show your status updates from Facebook on many other platforms using the RSS feed they provide is about the only way.

So why then is it so hard to find? Well, if you were to ask me I would guess they don’t want you readily being able to post your status updates anywhere someone wouldn’t have to join FaceBook to see them. Talk about Control Freaks! But for people like me, who have found that FaceBook seems to be running horribly slow and ‘buggy’ since the last update but don’t want to abandon it completely, finding alternate means of using it is critical.

Lately I have been doing most of my FaceBooking through txt or email. I check my notifications through an RSS Feed. Ironically, the Notifications RSS is incredibly easy to find, apparently they want you to know when you have a notification so you’ll login to the site! If you want to find your Notifications Feed just click on your ‘Inbox’ link and then on the ‘Notifications’ tab. In the right hand column just under Compose Message, not the ads column at the far right, scroll down until you see ‘Subscribe to Notifications’. Just click on that and add it to your favorite reader.

Anyway, getting back to your FaceBook Status Updates, where or where and how oh how do I find and use it? Well once you know its actually not that hard and there are only a few things to do to get to your feed. Then, depending on what, or I should say how, you want to use it you may have another step or two, that is up to you.

1. First things first, before continuing you need to login to FaceBook or you wont be able to ‘see’ the results of the next step. Just open a new tab or window in your browser and head on over there and login.
2. Now that your logged in click on this link http://www.new.facebook.com/minifeed.php?filter=11 to get your Mini Feed to open in a new window.
3. Now just like with the Notifications feed, scroll down that right hand column until you see ‘Subscribe to these Stories:’. Right below that is the link to your RSS feed. There is a little (blue, go figure) RSS Icon and the text ‘My Status.
4. Click on that and you will get your feed in RSS 2.0 Format to add to your readers or to copy the link for other uses.

For me I wanted the link for a couple different reasons. The first was to add status updates to the bottom of the site here next to my Twits. I also wanted to make it available for those that were interested but weren’t ready to join Facebook, or just don't think FaceBook is for them.

There are a couple little problems that I had to work out though. First was remembering the link, i.e. the actual url, every time I wanted to add it somewhere. The last thing I want is to have to go through all these steps again every time I want to use the link somewhere. The second is to be able to ‘see’ if taking the time to use the link is even beneficial, in other words, being able to track subscriptions.

There are lots of different ways to ‘solve’ these little problems and you can use whatever you are most comfortable with but I personally like FeedBurner. They are easy to use, available in my Google Account Page now that Google owns them and I already have all my other feeds burned there

I took my newfound link and went on a little trip to FeedBurner. Within a few clicks I received a nice new Feed Link that I could remember easy and was able to track. I did discover after one trial and error that in order to make the feed work on some platforms, such as using it in a widget on WordPress, I did have to go back and enable SmartFeeds from my FeedBurner Control Panel.

To do this, go to your FeedBurner ‘My Feeds’ page. Click on the feed you want to modify. Under the Optimization Tab look about half way down the column for SmartFeeds and click on it. There will now be a Red Box with a Activate Button in it. Click the button and wait for the box to turn green. Now you can use your feed in about any medium.