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Steve Jobs & iGranny

August 25, 2011 in All Things Tech, Apple, SwitchingGranny's Stuff with 0 Comments

Macs

I’ll always be grateful that I’ve been alive during Steve Jobs career at Apple.  My enthusiasm  towards Apple is due to this man’s ability to make complicated technology  so simply desirable that even a Granny can find it delightful.

I consider him an artist who has created a collection of masterpieces I have admired from afar and once obtained results in an emotional devotion that includes becoming part of a community.  Who else has done this with hardware and software?

For me it began with an iPod.

Steve Jobs is the reason I’m known as SwitchinngGranny.  Watching his passion during keynotes caused me to switch from windows operating system to the exciting world of mac.

I  believe that  because of Steve the average consumer has moved into the digital age.

I wish Steve some valuable time with his family,  improved health and most importantly I pray he is able to enjoy divine communion with the master Creator.  May God Bless Steve Jobs.

How has Steve Jobs and Apple influenced your life?

Why I deactivated fb

August 1, 2011 in All Things Tech with 1 Comment

Screen Shot 2011-08-01 at 11.23.40 AM

Why?

  • Redundancy
  • Taking up way too much time
  • Returning to more focus on Twitter
  • Have begun using Google +
I’d begun spending more time on facebook than on twitter.  Twitter has always been my  main source for social media. Twitter has been the place where I keep updated on real time news and all things tech.  With facebook I was spending my time reading status updates rather than growing in knowledge.  Then Google +  came along; suddenly my world opened up again.  New interesting people to “circle”. Much easier ability to read posts categorically as well as refined security and ease of sharing content with specific groups of people rather than posting everything for everyone. Between learning G+ and keeping up on facebook I was loosing my twitter touch.
For me the best way to re focus and prioritize was to deactivate my facebook account. Facebook provides the advantage of deactivation without actually deleting the account.  Thats a plus for me because  I’ll use this function to actually share this blogpost – however I’ll have to stay re activated for a couple of days to allow people time to read this. Once I re- deactivate  my posts won’t be accessible  on facebook. It  will be a crazy time of deactivating and reactivating. My goal will be to gradually get along without facebook at all.  It’s tough because there are many many people I want to keep in touch with who are on fb but not yet on g+ or twitter.  I really really hope people will begin tweeting or g+ing.
You can join twitter by going here  .  Google+ is still in beta and only available to those who get an invite.  Email me or comment with your email that’s associated with google (doesn’t have to be a gmail account- yet I highly recommend you get one) and you’ll get an invite.  You can also go here and sign up to get a google invite.
My hubby has a twitter account here  - And he has a facebook account here   He doesn’t post often or read his posts often. Yet he has agreed to my watching his accounts upon occasion to keep up with those who choose not to leave. You can add him as a friend on facebook and I’ll spend an evening (or a long horizontal day) reading your posts to catch up a bit.  But my goal is to not spend my time there.  I want to serve God and engage with people as efficiently as possible.  If I find I’m not ministering to those who are in need (because social media is NOT all about me), I’ll just humbly reactivate my facebook account and write another blog post as to why :)

celebrating 20K tweets

July 28, 2011 in All Things Tech, My Story, Ourselves And Family, Scripture, Twitter Tweets with 1 Comment

Screen Shot 2011-07-28 at 1.42.54 AM

Wow. I’m thinking a celebration is in order.  20,000 tweets!  Amazing even to me. Goes to show you how early my adoption to twitter really was.  I began tweeting in early March of 2007.  Most people had not even heard of twitter.  They were into myspace  (which I’d left) and face book which I had not begun yet.  Twitter had an immediate appeal to me.  I was excited to be able to reach out to friends and like minded people without having them follow me back.

I loved the real time conversation I could have with people.  It has been delightful to reach out via search to people of like mind and those with very different values .  This took me from my sofa out into a world of interesting people that I would have never had the honor of meeting. Many which I have become great friends with and will remain in contact with for the rest of my life.

Funny how things change.. initially when I was looking for folks to follow.. I ignored folks with 10,000 tweets or more. I thought they would over whelm my feed. LOL

Initially all my interaction was via twitter.  People say I am tweeting less.  Not that it means less to me but because with fb and now G+ and blogging, there are many different options for sharing with people.

I still find twitter to be my favorite of all apps to really engage in So Media. It’s real time. we can make columns with third party apps like Tweet Deck.  We can connect our twitter accounts to a multiple choice of apps to share our pictures/ videos/ and blog posts.

I’m sure G+ will keep growing.. lots of technology geeks refining the experience for G+.  I plan to continue for now to post #1through twitter, #2 by bloggins and #3 via Google+.  For now because the majority of my friends are still on fb (some just now adopting)  I will keep posting there – but less I believe.

20,000 tweets… had I put a dollar away for each tweet I could nearly buy a car!

Here’s my 1st tweet: SwitchingGranny: Listening to podcasts.. joining twitter..checking it out2007-03-30 01:50:37I’

I wish Twitter had saved all my archived posts. Tt’s like a daily diary and I’m still hoping someday I can get them back.

What ever comes along as newer social media apps! I personally will feel the most connected at Twitter.

Thanks Tweeps

 

A twitter story

July 10, 2011 in All Things Tech, Friends, SwitchingGranny's Stuff, Twitter Tweets with 0 Comments

Screen shot 2011-07-09 at 8.35.47 PM

Today is my tweet-heart’s birthday.  And I’ve been wracking my brain for ideas as to what I could give him.  Suddenly it occurred to me that a blog post in his honor might be just the perfect thing. 

First you need to know that my “tweet-heart” isn’t my hubby!  He is an “online” acquaintance.  In fact we were referring to one another as tweet hearts for almost two years before we met in person.

A bit of history on our relationship, because I’m sure that inquiring minds are dying to know :)

I was an early adopter to using the now hugely popular micro blogging platform known as twitter , it was 2007 and it seemed most people I knew hadn’t even heard of twitter.

Having my 1st iPhone as well as being new to the twitterverse, It was fun checking out different 3rd party apps that brought new options to tweeting.  One was called “Twinkle”.  The unique thing about Twinkle was that it allowed you to see tweets from people nearby.

Tommy and I were at a festival in Henderson, Ky.  Twinkle informed me that @NibbyP  was tweeting nearby.   As I checked through his stream of posts I realized that I had tons in common with him.  Soon we began following one another’s tweets, as well as friending each other on facebook.

We began sharing emails, which included prayer requests and new things going on in the world of technology that excited us, we both absolutely love gadgets, (especially Apple ones) new applications and useful internet sites. We both share a passion for real foods, cooking and leading healthy lifestyles.  Also we quickly found that we both held deep devotion for Jesus Christ.

I was quoting my new friend  Nibby Priest all the time! Tommy would often come home from work and ask “So, whats going on with Nibby today?”

For a long time we referred to one another as tweet-hearts who lived right across the Ohio River from one another but had never met in real life.

On Valentine’s Day 2010 A dear friend planned a surprise tweetheart/tweetup  dinner so Nibby and I could meet. We felt like we’d been friends for our entire lives. My life is greatly enriched by knowing Nibby!  He is vibrant, kind and genuinely authentic.

Nibby spends most of his life doing things that encourage others. To some he is known as Mr. Henderson because he so enthusiastically tweets and blogs about his hometown. He passion for all things tech blossomed with his use of social media to promote people and causes.  Nibby has provided me this blog and spends considerable time maintaining it and encouraging me to post.  And I know he does this out of a desire to see me engaging with others as I am often somewhat home bound due to multiple sclerosis.

I can’t say enough great things about my tweet-heart.  I can encourage you to benefit from his passions by following his blog:

 Life On Purpose


 Have a very Happy Birthday Nibby! 

 

5 reasons I’ll follow you back on twitter

June 17, 2011 in All Things Tech, Friends, Twitter Tweets with 0 Comments

Twitter has transformed communication.  Seriously twitter has transformed my life since March of 2007.  Sitting on my sofa I’m able to connect with folks all over the world in real time. Twitter is my main source of news.  Twitter is where I go when I hear a big clap of thunder. Our community has begun using the hashtag #TriStateWx for meteorologists and local people to share whats happening with our weather. Oh and I run outside in the midst of most weather events *especially when there is a possibility of a rainbow* like a nut taking pictures and video’s to post to twitter.  (hope I’m not killed in the process)

My life has been enriched with new and really interesting friendships (many crossing over into real life) by twitter. Like my tweetheart, @NibbyP We met virtually in 2007 when we were both new to twitter using a location based app called Twinkle.  Found out we lived right across the  Ohio River from one another and shared many interests. Finally on Valentine’s day of 2010 We had a tweet-heart meet-up  which only reinforced our  admiration for one another.

Through twitter and a podcast I was listening to Tommy & I  were able to meet the Taviano family @GabeTaviano & @MarlaTaviano during their 52Zoos in 52Weeks tour.

During on of my visits to Vanderbilt Medical Center  I got to meet-up with a favorite tweeting lady, Gail Hyatt @GailHyatt.

I was also blessed to meet my geekette idol, @CaliLewis when they had me out to Dallas to be on GeekBeat.TV And during that trip I also had the treat of meeting the Curlee family  @DaveCurlee @KatCurlee

So, back on topic- I struggle knowing who to follow back on twitter.  My settings are set so I get an email when someone follows me.  I save these up and ultimately go through them.  I used to automatically follow everyone back. Yet, that seems to defeat the uniqueness of twitter.  That uniqueness is that you can make your twitter stream what you want it to be.  You choose who interests you to follow.  It’s not like facebook where you must be friends and mutually see each others posts.

5 Things I look for before following someone back on twitter:

  1. A Profile Pic (See that generic egg- I don’t go forward- unless it’s a friend new to twitter who doesn’t know)
  2. A bio (I’ve got to know something interesting about you if I’m going to follow you)
  3. Website link (Yes, having a link for a website assures me that this person is an individual and not a business venture)
  4. Conversation going on (Seeing that the people I’m following are interacting with others on twitter- not all about them)
  5. RT’s (I’m seeing that they are using social media to spread links & news of others)

Stinkhorn!!

May 22, 2011 in All Things Tech, Garden, Scripture with 0 Comments

Stinkhorn in our yard

God is just so creative.   He knew I needed some distraction from my tears today.  More later- but our beloved Golden Retriever died this morning.

My hubby ask me to find a spot in the garden to plant a clematis we’d gotten as a gift after his Father’s funeral last week. While he was busy planting the clematis I decided to pull some weeds out of the garden.

Suddenly I jumped back. As I thought I’d seen a snake. Yet as I looked further I saw that these ugly/weird looking “things” were popped up all around the front of the house.  I grabbed him and said “You have to see this!”  ”What is it- a worm or a type of fungi?”  He assured me it was no snake or worm yet had no idea what it was.

So I got my camera and took this picture of just one of the many dozen of these things. Then posted a couple pics on facebook and ask if anyone might know what this was.  I also remembered a lady who I know from both facebook and twitter who has helped me by solving  garden mysteries in the past.  Initially Marsha told me this was going to be a challenge. Others commented “Gross” or “Weird”.

Yet right away Marsha came back posting “I’ve found it!”  ”It’s a STINKHORN. Mystery solved. When in doubt ask online.

PS I did NOT go back out to smell them and see how much they stunk!

“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15

Celebrating Twitter

March 23, 2011 in All Things Tech, Twitter Tweets with 0 Comments

I don’t know about you but I celebrate birthdays for a week.  And by my way of thinking we’ve got several days to continue to enjoy a Tweeting birthday party!

Happy Birthday Twitter

Twitter began on March 21st 2006.  Wow how it has grown. I wasn’t particularly an early adopter on March 30th 2007 when I sent out this tweet: “Listening to podcasts, joining twitter, checking it out”.  As of today I’ve tweeted 17,655 times!  That static blows my mind, considering I really just check in and out of twitter via various 3rd party applications during the day.

When I began to tweet my circle of friends had absolutely no idea what it meant.  If I tried to get peeps interested they pretty much blew me off.  Now it seems everyone knows about this micro blogging platform. From celebrities to news organizations. Business’s who don’t utilize the benefits of twitter are loosing out!

The estimated value worth 10 Billion and growing this little 5 year old has blown all other social networks out of the water in its speed of growth. From Twitter’s own blog:  “Twitter users now send more than 140 million Tweets a day which adds up to a billion Tweets every 8 days—by comparison, it took 3 years, 2 months, and 1 day to reach the first billion Tweets. While it took about 18 months to sign up the first 500,000 accounts, we now see close to 500,000 accounts created every day.”

Many facebook friends continue to feel intimated by twitter and have either signed up and left because they weren’t yet “getting” it!  For me fb is fun for keeping in touch with friends family pictures and reuniting with old school buddies. While twitter isexpanding my world from my sofa! With twitter I get real time news worldwide. I get immediate feedback regarding tech questions. And even more importantly to me are the millions of Christian family members who will pray right away for those who are hurting or in need.

I haven’t traveled the world yet I have friends on many continents. When big news events happen I’ve got access to 1st hand reports, pictures and streaming video because of twitter. I’ve even stopped subscribing to our local paper.

One more important aspect of twitter for me has been my connection with the millions of people living with disabilities like myself. We are able to support one another and become aware of medical advances like never before.

 

My world would be so limited without twitter!

 

Twitterholic

February 18, 2011 in All Things Tech, My Story, SwitchingGranny's Stuff, Twitter Tweets with 2 Comments

Caution Twitter can be addictive!!

Yes twitter will draw you in

Initially insidious. Seems people initially don’t see the need for a micro blog community. In fact describing twitter to folks in itself isn’t easy to do. And in the explanation the most you might get is a slight interest in the concept (if they indeed understand), but no genuine desire to join on.

Occasionally one will decide to join. This initial step generally begins with a little post regarding what they are doing.

Then.. time passes… often months. But something draws them back to twitter. A friend makes mention that they twitter, so you follow them.

you become interested in following others

Then maybe an email shows up that someone else is following you.

A rather uneventful evening comes round and you decided to check into those profiles of different people who folks follow. And maybe you begin to search for locations or particular topics. You click to follow those people who interest you.

Soon enough you have developed a little community of people who interest you. You find that @replying is much like IMing between folks on the whole of twitterland. And that sending and recieving Direct messages is indeed IMing. You will soon be clicking on all sorts of links that people post whom you follow. In turn finding more & more folks of interest to follow.

And you will look for links that may be of interest to those who follow you.

A desire to go deeper gradually overtakes you. You begin sharing more and more of the interesting things in your life. And some of the not so interesting things.

You are already to post links to news sites even before finishing reading the news yourself.

Twitter becomes your main source for news, and for friendship, and becomes your home page!

And eventually you find yourself having to check twitter first thing when you rise up in the morning, and last thing before you go to sleep. My tweet-heart (fellow I met tweeting who has become a dear friend) @NibbyP has even bought me a tweetie bird night light

a beautiful blue glass bird night light

Tweetie bird Night Light from my TweetHeart @NibbyP

Then the worst happens.. You wake up in the middle of the night and check twitter so that you can return to sleep and

be convinced that you are up on the most recent posts.

OH MY… OH MY.. Twitterholic Syndrome!

The whole of life becomes a tweet. You take pictures of your dinner and post them. You loose track of the real world around you. You begin tweeting not about what you are doing; because posting and following tweets is indeed what you are doing.

Things spiral as you add every available application to use twitter on your desktop, your cell phone, even your camera.

Then you are doomed- a warning that you are exceeding the twitter API limits!

10 reasons I turn to twitter

February 5, 2011 in All Things Tech, SwitchingGranny's Stuff with 2 Comments

Why I turn to twitter:

Facebook is like a hometown newspaper society section; yet Twitter is an interactive real time worldwide cyber newspaper.

  1. Twitter reaches far beyond my inner circle of family and friends
  2. Twitter is a real time communication tool.
  3. I can get immediate feedback unlimited sources on any subject.
  4. I don’t have to “friend” anyone.  The people who choose to follow my tweets may not be the same ones that I follow
  5. Twitter is simpler to learn and to navigate.
  6. There are amazingly awesome 3rd party apps that make twitter even more useful.
  7. Twitter cuts the unnecessary conversation and forces one to make interesting statements in 140 characters or less.
  8. Tweets can be searched real time.
  9. Hashtags (#) allow tweets to be categorized and clicking on a hashtagged word shows you all the other tweets in that category.
  10. With Twitter I’m able to travel the world rather than sit at the table at a family reunion.

My life has been greatly enhanced by folks I’ve met via twitter. Many of us have also met up In Real Life (IRL).

I turn to twitter for news events in real time. I turn to twitter for tech questions.

Truth is I turn to twitter because it’s more comprehensive.

Tech at it’s best for Grand parents

January 31, 2011 in All Things Tech, family, My Story, SwitchingGranny's Stuff with 4 Comments

Every Grand parent should have Face Time or Skype to be in touch with their grand kids.

  • To have a before school video chat
  • Your grand kids can show you their new art project in real time
  • The excitement of seeing their smile when they loose their 1st tooth
  • Sharing of ideas (with my SparklesGlittern- a new dance move- she’s developing)
  • Your grand child can read a book to you
  • The ability to have sweet before bedtime ritual’s
  • Nite Nite kisses
  • And my favorite of all: When they want to video chat just to say “I love you”

Heart Melting

You can do this now with FaceTime which can be installed on a new iPod touch or an iPhone 4 or any Mac running Snow Leopard. Or you can just use skype on your PC. Both of these services allow you to talk (when on wifi) without adding to your used minutes. Remember although I’m showing a gallery of screen shots I took while Face Timing with the Grandkids that this is real time video.

Just like the Jetsons!

Then your 7 yr old grand daughter can ask ” Me Maw what are the Jetsons?”

F

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