WholeHeartedLife

tweet, tweet

Earlier this year I joined facebook. I had resisted social networking for years, really not understanding and totally underestimating the powerful way that it could be used for the advancement of the gospel. If you're reading this I assume that you are fine with technology - WHY haven't you joined facebook yet?

Anyway, that's another post...

I want to talk about twitter and the way that it can be used. Twitter is what's currently going on in your life but you have to communicate it in 140 characters or less. For those of you who use facebook, it's like your "status" (as a matter of fact, whenever I "tweet" my twitter updates my facebook status automatically). As I've said before, it's the status updates that I love most about facebook, twitter just takes it to another level.

I don't know... there's something about a text message. Something safe - you're in a meeting, you could never answer a phone during the meeting, but a text comes in... you check it out, have a chuckle (and a quick escape) and you reconnect where you were - it's like a mini-vacation! (ok... not really, but you're normally glad that you got it! )

I follow hyde park friends and a few others. Whenever they "tweet" it comes to my mobile via text message. That way I know it...

• when Elizabeth is petitioning for homework to be banned...
• when Bree needs some humor in the middle of her day...
• when Ed is driving at nite, is tired and wants anyone needing coaching to give him a tweet with their number...
• when Los has posted a picture about something funny that just happened
• when Blake's getting his swell on at the Y... (you get the picture)

I feel more connected to a greater number of people than I ever have - and that's a good thing. Join the crowd.

You Need to Twitter

Social Networking really rocks! For example, over the past few months I have reconnected in a real way with people that life has just made me lose contact.

The 1st time I heard about facebook my thought was, "why in the world would i ever want to do that?". Now today I find myself feeling more connected with more people than ever.

The 1st time I heard about twitter and checked it out I thought, "that has to be the dumbest thing that I've ever heard of! I don't care if you're having coffee or just ran down your dog because he's chasing a 3-legged monkey!!". However, the other day I recognized something:

I DO CARE ABOUT THOSE THINGS.

As much as it seems useless, I like knowing that Deb "took the boys to the beach for the morning and has bathed them and now has a little time to herself - phew!". She's in Va Beach - but it's as if I spoke with her today. And I'm glad to know that Joey "ran, he ran so far away!" and that Steve "thinks that we're all jealous because the voices only speak to him.". You see, Joey is in Charlotte and Steve is in Los Angeles.

Thanks to social networking they're all part of my daily life now.

Which made me think: what if a bunch of people at hyde park were on twitter and we all kept up with each other in snippets as we went through our day. The below video explains how twitter works (those reading on rss feed go to main site to see short video.)

When you sign up for twitter sign up to follow me (hydeparkorama) and I'll follow you also. I seriously look forward to doing life with you!

New Widget

I got this new widget called Snapshots. It's really neat, because whenever i tell you to check this out you can see where "this" is sending you...

So if i reference Bree's Blog you'll actually see a "shot" of it...

Or the message board...

or the Whopper Freakout! (Now I'm just messin' around . Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.)

I am gonna check this out tonite! Leavin' for Chapel Hill soon...

Help Sites that I love!

I spend a lot of time online and am so thankful for the technology that is available today. Thought you might be interested in seeing what I use a lot:

• GMail - I switched to gmail back in the spring because I got tired of bad service on my email server. It's FREE, It's easy, It has lots of tools, it's free, you can bring all of your current email addresses and still keep them but receive them all in one place. I LOVE IT! (did I mention it's free?)
• Google Reader - this is a syndication reader that will let you know when all your favorite blogs have a new post on them. In other words, you can see if WholeHearted, or Bree, or Sunday's Coming has a new post without actually going there (i very seldom go to an actual site anymore!)
• igoogle - your customized homepage that you can put your new gmail, your google reader, espn, news, weather, whatever up on - once again, LOVE IT!
• Biblegateway - digital bible with all the different translations. I use this almost exclusively during study - it's use for me has been immeasurable! Know the verse but can't remember where it is? Just go on biblegateway and type in what you know and you'll probably find it! Great for study.
• Do you have itunes yet? You don't have to have an ipod to use itunes - you do have to have itunes to download upcoming hyde park music, the songs you need to know.
• Love yahoo instant messenger - drop a quick note to your friend that you see is online - the Creative Team uses im to hold online meetings - they're so hip!

These are some of the things i love - what do you use that makes your life easier - share with "the class".

No time to Comment?

(From Swerve - great idea!)I thought I’d try a new plug-in called ClickComments that allows you to make a quick response to any post on WholeHearted Life without having to enter your name or email address.

It does not replace the normal way you can comment on a post. It’s a way for the 98% of you who don’t have the time to respond to a post in detail to quickly give some simple feedback without hassle.

You can mouse over the icons below to see the possible responses. All of them are pretty positive statements…just the way I like it Actually, I don’t believe there is a way to change the choices.

How to Subscribe

erAre you familiar with this symbol? It's called a "chicklet" (like that great gum we used to love when we were little). A chicklet is a cool little tool that works for another tool called "feedburner" as it will help you to keep up with all your favorite blogs. Rather than having to personally check the blog site you can (if you subscribe) receive a "feed" which you will find in your favorites.

Confusing? Yeah, it's a little confusing to me too. But here's what you do. On this page, at the top you'll see the "chicklet" - click on it and it will bring up my 'feed page'. Near the top it will say "subscribe to this page" - hit that and it will sign you up. Then next time you're on line, go to your Favorites Center (Alt+C) and click on your 'feedburner' link that has been added and it will bring you to the WholeHearted Life feedpage. When you get to WholeHearted Life click on the newest link and it will bring you right on.

You can do this all over the web - wherever you see the "chicklet" (a great way to keep up with new post) - so let's all start 'burnin'! And I suggest that all my bloggin' friends (doing life together/Bree/Connections/Ricky Britt) add "feedlinks" to your page also...

By the way, Bree is doing some great work on her site - check her out...