Sparkfire: Life, Love, and the Computer - Latest Comments

Re: How Technology’s Affecting Interpersonal Relationships

Myinterp — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:38:11 -0000

This is a very interesting topic. I think you are spot on. Strong relationships yield value. Those critical relationships take time to develop and maintain. Social media is our CRM to manage our relationship prospects. It allows us to see many more prospects, but ultimately does not change the time and effort required to build a solid relationship of value.

Re: How Technology’s Affecting Interpersonal Relationships

nateriggs — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:42:56 -0000

Really interesting take Jessica. And lots of good resources. I would suggest this - with social media, CRM technology and the web as a whole, we can now find and catalog relationships that before would have passed us by in time.

I get what you're saying - even though we now have more access to information on people, we still have a limited capacity to go in the deeper phases of relationship development (as outlined in Altman & Taylor's Social Penetration Theory).

But that said, do you feel like the access the web gives us then could potentially allow us to optimize our 150 people to be the best, most fitting and compelling relationships? Also, consider that your 150 can also shift. What I mean is that as we humans move through life, we become close friends with different people a different times? Does the social web allow us to tweak and change our 150 closest relationships more efficiently?

Re: Tech & Creativity in Tampa Bay: Problems and Solutions

Justin Davis — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:45:03 -0000

Jessica - great post! As someone's who's not yet in Tampa, but will be soon (June, baby!), it's good to see that there's energy in the community, and that a community self-awareness of sorts is developing around the notion that it needs to be more tightly knit.

I can say, from extensive firsthand experience, that the strength of a community is an absolute direct contributor to the success of its members. In Nashville, we're spoiled. Over the past 3 years, the tech community here has absolutely exploded. Where it was once fragmented and largely apathetic, today, it's close, excited and very involved. That engagement has allowed at least a few things to happen:

- More support, city-wide, for technology events and companies. This is a positive feedback loop where more respect for the community drives further investment in it, and so on.

- Better opportunities for veterans and beginners - the highly engaged community has allowed those new to tech to get involved quickly, find mentors and develop their craft in the safety of a community that is eager to help develop the next generation of tech workers.

- More national recognition and infrastructure support. As the community grows and gains visibility, more investment money flows into the city and more national exposure helps feed that.

With that said, I've seen a myriad of things that have worked, and quite a few that haven't. One of the more successful category of events up here are informal meetups centered broadly around technology (or more appropriately...around geeks.) At least a couple companies here in Nashville have a monthly mixer, inviting the community to their place (or a bar/restaurant) for drinks and conversation. No agenda, no program. Just the community getting together and chatting. One of these regularly nets over 100 people per event, in a community which has a total city population much smaller than that of Tampa and the surrounding areas. Can that happen in Tampa? I really think so. (As a bit of proof about this, I posed the question to Twitter asking Nashville folks what makes our community so tight-knit and engaged. The most popular answer? "Booze".)

Some of the events/get-togethers we have up here regularly (important to note that all of these are *repeat* events, happening monthly, or at least yearly [in the case of "camps"]).

- Barcamp Nashville
- Podcamp Nashville
- Nashville Geek Breakfast
- Givecamp (http://nashvillegivecamp.org/)
- Centre{Source} Interactive Mixer (every other month at a local interactive agency. Beer/snacks/conversation)
- Firefly Logic Geek Social (every month at a bar. Local company sponsors. Drinks/conversation)
- Nashville Startup Weekend
- TEDx Nashville
- Hour of Happy Nashville (http://hohnation.com/)
- Nashcocktail
- Digital Nashville Mixer
- Social Media Nashville events
- Various educational events at user groups (PHP, Java, Flash Dev, etc.)

This is something I've thought a lot about recently. I can't wait to get to Tampa - the people I've had a chance to meet so far (including you, Jessica!) have been incredible, eager and energetic. It has the buzz of a community that's ready to explode. I'm really stoked to be part of it starting in the middle of this year.

I don't know that's there's a prescription for getting a community involved and engaged, as they're all different. That said, having leaders like you stepping up to commit to making an effort at it is the foundation of it. If I can help in any way before I move down there, definitely let me know.

Re: SXSWi… A Branding and Social Media Conference?

Jessica — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:23:43 -0000

"I know how to play that game. But I wonder how much good content will be missed because the presenter is a good educator but not an amateur marketer. "

... See, that's what the issue is here. Just because people listen to you on Twitter, that doesn't NECESSARILY mean you have good content. I think part of the problem is the fact that people are playing the game, and overwhelming those who don't. (Not that I wouldn't do the same... haha) I hope the board and staff handle it well and actively try to get more balance there.

Re: SXSWi… A Branding and Social Media Conference?

Tom Boutell — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:15:59 -0000

Also: the beginner/intermediate/advanced thing is a bit arbitrary. My panel is technical but is categorized as intermediate. Is that appropriate? Sure, if you're skimming the material to learn what to expect from a hosting company or a new system administrator. There are probably other panels that are "intermediate" not because they are wimpy but because they are presented in a way that accommodates different levels of engagement.

Re: SXSWi… A Branding and Social Media Conference?

Tom Boutell — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:11:13 -0000

Good question. I submitted a panel on PHP performance - how to get your Drupal/Wordpress/Symfony/etc. websites to run faster without rewriting them. It's a solid technical topic without being hopelessly obscure.

If panels like mine - not necessarily mine - make it through the process and are on the menu I'll be excited to go.

If not... enh. I *am* interested in other areas, but I need to be able to justify my time there at least somewhat in terms of material that relates more directly to what I do, and I'm not in marketing.

There's a decent chance that my panel will make it, because I am rocking the twitters and blogging the bloggers and generally making an agreeable nuisance of myself. I know how to play that game. But I wonder how much good content will be missed because the presenter is a good educator but not an amateur marketer. With thousands of submissions it just isn't possible to read through them all and make intelligent decisions.

I guess this is what November 4th would be like if we decided every single issue by ballot initiative.

Re: TEDx Tampa Bay Recap

Jessica — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:41:57 -0000

OMG! We just had our very first TEDx Houston event last month too and it blew me away. It sounds like yours was equally inspiring. Didn't you just want to get out of there and GO DO SOMETHING! I mean I wanted to go save the world before dinner.

I am glad TEDx is expanding all over the place, I only hope the ideas that are expressed in these events do the same.

Hugs
Jessica

http://www.coffeeandbluejea...

Re: Search By Location (Miles From Zipcode) in PHP

David — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:47:24 -0000

I agree with Sarah here. The data is not terribly hard to find, it's just not free typically. You can try Micah's site perhaps. You could also add those zip codes manually. It is for client work, I'd just purchase a list, but make sure it has the records you need. Thanks for your help Sarah.

Re: Try out Ubuntu Unity with quick install

David — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:44:48 -0000

Hello Mohsen, I'm really sorry to hear things aren't working for you. I'm really not an expert so I can't say why it's happening exactly. Are you trying to run Unity directly? I was able to select it from the login screen as an alternative shell, which seemed to work well. If you've tried that already, I'm not sure what to tell you, perhaps somebody else has run into this problem?

Re: Search By Location (Miles From Zipcode) in PHP

Sarah Lewis — Fri, 28 May 2010 21:37:45 -0000

It seems like free zip code data is hard to come by, at least if you need latitude and longitude data. I'm researching a client project right now and have pretty much settled on the $40 database from this place; while I'd love a free option, it's important for the client's credibility that it's up-to-date, and $40 isn't that much to budget into a professional project.

Re: Try out Ubuntu Unity with quick install

mohsen davari — Sat, 15 May 2010 15:21:38 -0000

hi
i install unity but not work for me

mohsen@mohsen-davari:~$ unity

(unity:3863): liblauncher-WARNING **: Unable to read comment from desktop file /usr/share/applications/nautilus.desktop: Key file does not have key 'Comment'

(unity:3863): GConf-WARNING **: gconf_engine_notify_add: You can't use a GConfEngine that has an active GConfClient wrapper object. Use GConfClient API instead.

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityWidgetsScroller' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityQuicklauncherManager' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityQuicklauncherView' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelView' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Wnck-CRITICAL **: wnck_set_client_type got called multiple times.

(unity:3863): Gtk-WARNING **: /build/buildd/gtk+2.0-2.20.0/gtk/gtkstyle.c:1788: widget class `GtkImage' has no property named `x-ayatana-indicator-dynamic'

(unity:3863): Gtk-WARNING **: /build/buildd/gtk+2.0-2.20.0/gtk/gtkstyle.c:1788: widget class `GtkImage' has no property named `x-ayatana-indicator-dynamic'
** (unity:3863): DEBUG: Connected to Application Indicator Service.
** (unity:3863): DEBUG: Setup proxy signals
** (unity:3863): DEBUG: Connect to them.
** (unity:3863): DEBUG: Request current apps
(unity:3863): Indicator-Sound-DEBUG: about to connect to the signals

(unity:3863): Gtk-WARNING **: /build/buildd/gtk+2.0-2.20.0/gtk/gtkstyle.c:1788: widget class `GtkImage' has no property named `x-ayatana-indicator-dynamic'
(unity:3863): Indicator-Sound-DEBUG: at the indicator start up and the volume percent returned from dbus method is 34.002686
(unity:3863): Indicator-Sound-DEBUG: at the indicator start up and the MUTE returned from dbus method is 0
(unity:3863): Indicator-Sound-DEBUG: IndicatorSound::fetch_sink_availability_from_dbus -> AVAILABILTY returned from dbus method is 1

** (unity:3863): WARNING **: /home/mohsen/.face: not found or empty

(unity:3863): Gtk-WARNING **: /build/buildd/gtk+2.0-2.20.0/gtk/gtkstyle.c:1788: widget class `GtkImage' has no property named `x-ayatana-indicator-dynamic'

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelIndicatorsIndicatorEntry' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelIndicatorsIndicatorItem' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelIndicatorsView' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelView' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelIndicatorsIndicatorEntry' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelIndicatorsIndicatorItem' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelIndicatorsIndicatorEntry' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelIndicatorsIndicatorItem' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelIndicatorsIndicatorEntry' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended

(unity:3863): Clutter-WARNING **: The actor 'UnityPanelIndicatorsIndicatorItem' is currently inside an allocation cycle; calling clutter_actor_queue_relayout() is not recommended
Allocating 1 x 1 radeon RBO (pitch 16)
Allocating 1 x 1 radeon RBO (pitch 16)
Allocating 1280 x 800 radeon RBO (pitch 1280)

(unity:3863): Clutk-WARNING **: [CheckGLError] GL_INVALID_VALUE error in File ./ctk-render-target.c at line: 285

(unity:3863): Clutk-WARNING **: [CheckGLError] OpenGL Error 1281 in File ./ctk-render-target.c at line: 285

mohsen@mohsen-davari:~$

Re: Search By Location (Miles From Zipcode) in PHP

Neubian — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:39:20 -0000

I have a client with two dealerships (out of a list of only 104) with zip codes not included in this dump of zip_codes.

99354 & 23533

Is there an updated list?

Re: Search By Location (Miles From Zipcode) in PHP

josh hoegen — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:49:56 -0000

beautiful! "$z = new zipcode_class;
$miles = $z->get_distance(97214, 98501);" thats it?! perfect.....

Re: TEDx Tampa Bay Recap

Justin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:53:53 -0000

Hi Jessica. It's good that you recognize that you need to get out of your own way. Everyone feels insecure. It is human nature. Live your values and people who share those values will gravitate to you.

Re: SXSW Without Breaking the Bank!

Jessica (Redheadjessica) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:47:25 -0000

Andi, The biggest thing I did was start early. I started planning in April 09 to for the 2010 trip. I worked with SXSWi, so I did not have to pay for my ticket. I did however, spend a lot of time working with them beforehand. I also stayed with a friend in Austin who was about 2 miles away and didn't plan bus routes ahead of time. So, we had a free place to stay but took a lot of cabs.

I've found a number of other tips I'll be posting about in the future.

Lauren, I am on Couchsurfing, though I unfortunately haven't done much yet. I'm redheadjessica, I believe.

Re: SXSW Without Breaking the Bank!

Lauren — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:13:16 -0000

Hey! Are you signed up on couchsurfing? If so, I had no idea! Give me your profile and I'll friend/reference you!

I actually CSed in Austin last May and it was a pretty great time. Have fun at sxsw!

Re: SXSW Without Breaking the Bank!

Andi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:31:40 -0000

Sooo... how are YOU footing the bill? I'm scraping together for next year right now :) Enjoy and remember your many jealous neighbors - bring us back some great info and share with us at one of our upcoming Creative Loafing roundtables!! We'll be expecting a good session.

Re: Is this how teachers feel?

Jessica (Redheadjessica) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:36:28 -0000

What would you do?? That was our whole problem. We went from amazed to amused to confused... We have yet to respond to or hear back from him.

Maybe they were buddies? :)

Re: Is this how teachers feel?

Vincent Roman — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:17:04 -0000

That's pretty damn shocking, especially when you did the research to find him. That's not even sloppy it is down right disgusting and that kind of behaviour shouldn't be tolerated.

It reminds me of the time, we were given an entire export of a project from NIKE from two different devs looking to apply for the same role. Needless to say we accepted nothing further from either.

Re: Is this how teachers feel?

phats57 — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:35:56 -0000

You should rename your company Google, I bet he could come up with all kinds of awesome logo's for you.

Re: Women Deserve Better

Phil Edwards — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:21:22 -0000

Hi Jessica,
"Women Deserve Choice - Women Deserve Better"forever words, from the beginning of us to the end of us. Thank you for the above post!

1-In Milwaukee, there once was a month of small horrors…little Children having babies (not one but nine children).. The youngest was a beautiful, just turned 11 year old, riding on a gurney clutching a stuffed teddy-bear, victim of an orphanage and a rape by some big man though-”not my daddy and I hurt” and….this precious child…we should have aborted---you be the Judge!

2-This minister believes that our gay folk deserve a world without moral pandering..3- If embryo-destructive research saves lives…4-Abortion is not a playground for religion…It is a human situation both personal and personal and personal and…Old white men telling young women what they should do with? 5-How about assisted suicide and euthanasia? This is again a human situation and is personal and personal and personal and…
6-Should we believe in abortion? We should believe in reality! --“and love sister is just a kiss away”—Rolling Stones.

7-May Respect and Understanding and Peace and Love (Rupl) be with all of us…forever?And! I pray that our Right-Winged Clergy grow Left-wings so that our Dove of Peace may fly once more…Amen.

Thanks again,

Phil Edwards

Re: But I don't deal well with the unknown…

Dave — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:03:21 -0000

so true :)

Re: Search By Location (Miles From Zipcode) in PHP

David — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:17:23 -0000

Willie,

I'm glad you've figured it out, good luck!

Re: Search By Location (Miles From Zipcode) in PHP

Willie — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:45:26 -0000

Hello There:

Please ignore my previous post. I found what the problem was. I was inputting the inputs backwards. Thanks.
--Willie

Re: Search By Location (Miles From Zipcode) in PHP

Willie — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:25:19 -0000

Hello there:

Thanks a lot for this post clarifying how to use the code by Micah. It is greatly appreciated.

I am using your code to get Micah's class to work for me. However, I am getting an error in this line:

$zips_in_range = implode(',', array_keys($zips) );

The error is:

Warning: array_keys() [function.array-keys]: The first argument should be an array in /opt/www/vhosts/company/www/zipclass.index.php on line 14

I hope you, or someone else, can help me to solve this
I dont know if this enough info to solve this error.

Thanks.
--Willie