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Tag Archives: Community

Bacn – SPAM: The Next Generation

A new term has started to emerge over the last several months to describe the SPAM you get that’s your own doing. The Term is BACN (note the Web 2.0-esque missing “o”). All of those mailing lists, Facebook notifications, Friendster blog-update alerts and Microsoft VS Developer notices were things that you thought you wanted to get in your inbox, but every time one comes in you just decide to turf it.

Bacn
Image: jted on Flickr

This image really does illustrate the point nicely (though the Spam cut is probably a bit too small…). I have to admit, that despite the amount of junk email I get, and lots of it is Bacn, I still continue to sign up for notifications of things. I think it’s just the innate fear of missing something. This way I get all the information I might want to read someday, but most likely I’ll just ignore it.

According to the Wikipedia article, and a couple of other sources, the term Bacn was coined at PodCamp Pittsburgh in August 2007. Apparently this is what you get when you cross over-zealous twiterers with Canadian bacon and a boring stint at the registration table.

I’ve noticed that I take a similar approach to some of the podcasts and other feeds I have subscribed. Even though I never actually read that feed from TechCrunch, I’m reticent to delete it because someday there might be a good story in there for a blog entry or some other purpose.

At the end of the day Bacn is self-inflicted, so I guess I’d better shut up and start fryin’.

Miss604 –> $400 for Surrey Food Bank

Just a quick update on the Blogathon post I did the other day.  Miss604 has successfully completed her 24-hour blogathon and her readers (myself included) have managed to pool together over $400 for the Surrey Food Bank!

If you’re one of those who made a pledge, be sure to follow up on it… tout de suite!  If you haven’t yet made a pledge the Donation link from the Miss604 website will remain active until July 31st, after which you can donate directly from the Surrey Food Bank website.

Well done, Rebecca!

Blogathon 2007 – Support the Surrey Food Bank

Though I’ve moved out of Surrey, I still consider myself a Surrey-boy at heart. A friend of mine, Rebecca from Miss604, will be participating in Blogathon 2007 and her charity of choice is the Surrey Food Bank.

The Surrey Food Bank receives no core government funding. They assist about 14,000 people per month from the communities of Surrey and North Delta. 42% of our clients are children and babies.

If you would like to support this cause, please take a minute to click-through to the Food Bank’s donation page from her site.  She will be keeping a running list of her Blogathon 2007 posts on her site as well.

Good on ya, Rebecca!

Bum Rush The Charts — Results & Ramifications

After the initial results from last Thursday’s Bum Rush, the charts continued to roll for the next three days.  I’d like to thank those of you who participated.  Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff has published the top results from  more than 15 countries, and the results are extremely positive.

Notice from dozens of traditional media outlets, including a lengthy article on our very own CBC.  No doubt helped to spur on the movement, but it was the podcasting and blogging community that really pushed this initiative forward, and everyone who purchased Black Lab‘s Mine Again over the past while has really done a lot to help.  Not only will this help to legitimize social media, but it has also helped put real dollars into the pockets of students who may not have been able to attend classes this fall.

I first heard about this on RadioZoom which is a Podsafe Music podcast based out of Vancouver.  The host, Uncle John referenced having heard about this on the Daily Source Code.  After which I heard about it on DSC, and found the website.

I blogged about it here, and also passed it on to my blogging guru within our company.  Finally, on the night of the Bum Rush, I spammed select folks on my MSN list. Not exactly the practise originally envisioned I know, but it managed four extra confirmed sales.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the next time someone starts up BRTC, or something like it.  These types of efforts show that a small effort by a large enough number of people can have a huge impact.

Thank you again to all those who participated.

I’m in. Are you? – Make your mark for Podsafe Music

Bum Rush The ChartsOn March 22nd an illustration of the power of citizen-journalism and the reach of the blogging and podcasting community will take over the Internet… well at least the iTunes music store. There’s a movement afoot called Bum Rush the Charts to drive a track from a podsafe artist to number one on the iTunes music store charts.

The artist of the hour is Black Lab, and their track Mine Again the lead-off track from their latest album Passion Leaves a Trace. The point of this is to prove the power, reach and credibility that bloggers and podcasters have in the Internet community. I’ve included an excerpt from the BRTC site:

We can do better. We can match and exceed the reach of big media, corporate media, labels, and the entrenched interests. On March 22nd, we are going to take an indie podsafe music artist to number one on the iTunes singles charts as a demonstration of our reach to Main Street and our purchasing power to Wall Street. The track we’ve chosen is “Mine Again” by the band Black Lab. A band that was dropped from not just one, but two major record labels (Geffen and Sony/Epic) and in the process forced them to fight to get their own music back. We picked them because making them number one, even for just one day, will remind the RIAA record labels of what they turned their backs on – and who they ignore at their peril.

I’ll be posting a new post and a link directly to the iTunes store on March 22nd. There will also be links from the BRTC website, who have signed up as an iTunes affiliate. They will be donating the proceeds of any commissions made to college scholarships. A way to pay back students who are a major part of the music industry’s paying customer base.

This initiative has support from some fairly significant players in the podcasting world, including Adam Curry founder of Podshow, and host of the Daily Source Code. So do your part. Spend your $0.99 to support podsafe artists and the dream of a DRM-free tomorrow.

Vote for Rory!!

Vote For Rory!In its infinite wisdom, the NHL has decided to allow the fans to select the starting lineup for the All Star Game. This in itself is nothing new, and has been going on for years. However this year, the process is being conducted entirely on-line… As with any first version of software, there is a bug: Anyone can vote as many times as they want for the same (or a different) player. The result? Someone has decided to try and get a write-in nominee to make the starting lineup.

Steve Schmid has created the site VoteForRory.com in an effort to get a fans’ choice write-in candidate into the starting lineup of the All Star Game. After three weeks of voting, his efforts, and those of dedicated voters have managed to get Rory Fitzpatrick into 5th place.

Personally, I think this is a brilliant opportunity for the fans to have a more direct impact on the game. If Rory manages to garner enough support, perhaps the NHL will 1: fix the bug which allows people to vote all they want, and 2: allow the selection of the All Star Team to be performed by people more attuned to hockey than your average web monkey.

So go, visit the Vote For Rory website and do your part to change the face of Hockey.

Off the wall ideas – Halfbakery.com

Half Bakery CroissantEver have a time when you were sitting around with a few friends, and came up with some cockamamie scheme to make money or save the rainforest or just get a few laughs? Well those times are here again, all day every day over at halfbakery.

The bakesperson and a crew of many regulars discuss such important topics as:

So pull out your half-baked ideas, and join the discussion. Maybe just maybe you’ll find some creative inspiration here!

Books Books and more Books

We took some time this evening to hit the used book sale at one of our local libraries tonight. We were told to show up early because it would get busy, since the sale started at 6:00 we figured showing up at 5:30 would be plenty early… we were at the back of a very substantial line. Apparently this is quite the event for the local community. I figured I’d find a book or two, pay my $0.50, and be on my way. Boy was I wrong.

When you walk in the door to the 20×20 room with 40 other people they hand you a box — and yes, you’ll need it. There are literally thousands of books on display in the small room and people are wasting no time filling up their boxes, with dozens of volumes on every conceivable subject. I couldn’t resist. I took my empty brown box and began filling it with the ridiculously discounted tomes ( I found a book I’d bought for school earlier this year on sale for $1.00… I paid about $80).

When the dust settled 45 minutes later, the two of us had amassed a collection of 25 books and one copy of QuickBasic 4.5 that I simply couldn’t pass up (for $1.00). I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it… it’s the 5.25″ disk edition.

So if you hear about a book sale at your local library you should really check it out. The bargains are astounding.