I was on the subway the other day and I noticed this woman with a perma-smile. When I caught her in my field of vision I thought she was smiling at me, and I smiled right back, thus proving the theory that smiles are contagious.

So I thought, why don’t I start that. Since Sunday, I have been making a conscious effort to keep a smile on my face at all times. Trust me, this is not easy (and therefore I will take a whole day’s worth of frustrations out on this blog). It’s just not easy for me, being a city girl, to brighten my eyes and keep a happy look on my face. It probably looks like I just got botox and can’t change the look on my face.

But I’ve been doing it anyway. I’ve been getting TONS of smile backs, which is awesome, but a few memorable moments occurred that I am going to attribute to the smile:

Sunday- Grocery store- walking up to the store, I make smiling-eye contact with some guy playing loud music getting out of his car. He smiles back a big white teethy smile and shouts “Hey girl! Come and dance with me!” and starts dancing in the parking lot. I kept my smile on. It was actually pretty funny. Later on, in the store, he spotted me around the corner of an aisle, and said “Hey! It’s the dancing girl! How are ya! You know, you are fine looking!” and high-fived me. To be clear, I did NOT dance in the parking lot.

Monday- Gym- Some Asian guy sitting directly across from me on a cable machine took my smile well- he did the Asian nod and ninja-quick “hi” with a big smile back. I smiled at tons of guys I normally make the puke face at when I see them, so I got tons of excited smiles back. Some were a little frightened. I can understand.

Tuesday- Gym- the boxing instructor asked for my number, after saying that despite me having been a member at the gym since September, he’d never noticed me before. The smile drew him in. I know I am doing opposites of what I said in an earlier post, but an ex of mine gave me shit for saying I don’t, when he and I went to the same gym for probably a full year, so I have to date guys from my gym now. AND- I had the best yoga class ever (the smiles are actually making me happy). I did the thing where you cross your hand under and over your leg to grab the other hand behind your back. First time ever.

I will keep you informed of all the other good stuff that happens to me this week because I smile.

A side note- I used the Word Press spell check for this post (you know I rarely do), and “smile” is not a word it recognizes.

Is it wrong to give my number to someone because I know it will make a good blog post? (The boxing instructor at my gym)

Also, Chicken Shawarma was at the gym today. I was talking to Mustang at the time, and despite Chicken’s best efforts to get my attention, I was talking to a man way bigger than him so he backed off.

“Can you give me advice on which host to go with to host my blog?”

It’s a question that I’m asked a lot - but one that I can’t offer a lot of personal advice on as my blogs have been successfully hosted on b5media’s servers for a couple of years now. We use LogicWorks at b5 but I’m interested to hear who you use and recommend to host your blog?

Who do you use to host your blog? Why do you use them?

No affiliate links in comments please - they will be deleted.

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The economy is way down and the pain is not only being felt at the pump. It’s being felt in the job market. Unemployment hit an all time high last quarter as more and as more and more people hit the streets looking for meaningful employment, bad habits are accompanying them.

Sarah Needleman of the Wall Street Journal wrote a story today about the informality used in social media, text messaging and other “typical” lines of communication. Often times, the informalities deep six candidates.

I’ll admit that I am guilty of being informal in job searches. Needleman indicates that the most egregious mistakes come from entry level candidates just out of school, indicating a generational (and of course, maturity) issue.

I also tend to use emoticons mostly in IM. This has gotten me in trouble in the past where the text I’ve written in emails was misunderstood because of a lack of a or to indicate humor. Text as a medium sucks, and that is why ultimate care must be taken in how text is formulated.

Other things that can kill a candidacy with a company are:

1. Not understanding the company culture
2. Eagerness to proactively answer unasked and unrelated questions in an interview
3. Blanket resumé distribution
4. Inappropriate attire for an interview (Understand the culture of the company as in point #1, especially in the web space)
5. Buzzword Bingo on resumés or in interviews
6. Inability to discern exactly what an interviewer is looking for despite the questions asked
7. Inappropriate behavior, photos, language as demonstrated in social networks, blogs, etc

Obviously, not all of these things apply in every situation. Astute candidates get ahead of the curve and understand before sending “Send” what exactly is being communicated.

As a bonus, my friend, Jen Nedeau, is quoted in the article as well. She demonstrates an appropriate use of these technologies.

“I definitely text my managers if I am running late,” says Jennifer Nedeau, 23, a project manager at New Media Strategies Inc., a marketing firm in Arlington, Va. “I know I’m not bothering them with a phone call, but they’re still getting the message.”

I’d add that text messaging a manager comes after you’ve got a good relationship with the manager or if he/she explicitly gives permission. Otherwise, you’re asking to be on a list.

Walled Gardens. Defined as media properties utilizing privileged access to provide information services or content to a user. The classic example of a walled garden was AOL, before they opened up most of their services. Users paid $23.95 or whatever the access rate was and got access to the “AOL Network.”

Then there was Facebook, the walled garden social network that restricted access to college and high school students, and businesses who had a Facebook presence. In all these cases, the confirming matter was a legitimate email address issued by the legitimate university, high school or business.

Web 2.0 drastically changed the way we do “internet”. No longer do people expect to pay for these services, they simply don’t. AOL recognized this fact a few years ago when then CEO Jonathan Miller suggested to the board that AOL should drop its subscription model and open up. AOL decentralized and became an open platform, including their very popular AIM service. AIM, a formerly closed protocol, now is run via Open AIM, a service which has allowed the interoperability between Google Talk, Jabber, and .Me, to name a few.

Facebook opened up big time. They decided to let the world see what was behind the curtain and were wildly successful. Though Facebook is still a walled garden in some respect to data, the walls keep falling with Facebook apps and Facebook Connect, announced last week.

As a final example of a traditionally closed walled garden throwing all caution to the wind and embracing the open internet environment, I give you the New York Times. NYT excessively applies metadata to all of its content, opening up the door for others such as Blogrunner, a Techmeme competitor which is actually owned by NYT. More notably to the traditional media norm, the registration requirement (which is almost always free at online newspapers) to view articles was removed giving full access to NYT content.

No registration. No hoops. Profit.

The challenge, as Seth Godin is probably about to find out, is when a business model is built around paid access (or even free but registration required). I’ve toyed with the idea of premium content for RSS subscribers only here. Though I won’t promise not to try it again, I can say it did not work. There was no increase in subscribers. There was even better content and resources, yes. But it does not work.

That said… one of the things that the open content movement seems to be bringing to light is single sign in. Facebook Connect, for instance, allows users to gain access to dedicated non-Facebook resources, free of charge and without forcing yet another account.

This doesn’t solve business model. I think the Pay per Play model is flawed inherently and though some people are successfully making money on older models, I don’t think the honeymoon can last.

That’s just me, though. Curious to hear what you think the best method of monetizing premium content is.

As this post goes live the doors at the BlogMastermind blog mentoring program are opening again for the first time in many months.

Signup today to receive free bonuses as a ProBlogger reader and go in the running to win a prize - you could win a Flip Video Camera or a ProBlogger book (see the updates at the end of this post for more details).

When he first launched BlogMastermind I was really impressed by what Yaro had put together. He didn’t just rely upon the fact that he earns a six figure income from blogging to draw numbers into his site - he put so much work into developing a teaching site that delivered students amazing value.

This has been confirmed to me many times over from the feedback that I regularly hear from students that enrolled last time around. It was so popular last time that Yaro closed the doors on the program so as to be able to give students the attention that they deserved and to stop it being overrun.

Please don’t be put off by the sales page (that has to be the longest one I’ve seen for quite some time - the video at the top is probably the best part) - Yaro’s training content is first rate.

You can get a great feel for the the type of content that Yaro offers students with some of the free videos and reports that he’s already released:

• Watch his video on Conversion Blogging (the way Yaro makes his money from blogging)
• Listen to his interview with a former BlogMastermind Student (who now has a blog worth millions)
• Watch two new videos where Yaro gives more insight into how his blogs make money
• See Yaro’s Become a Better Blogger Series of Videos (designed for real beginner bloggers)
• Get the Blog Profits Blueprint (a report that contains some great information on blogging for money)

Those five links alone give bloggers some great insights into profitable blogging and will give you a taste for what BlogMastermind is all about and how Yaro teaches.

You’ll notice as you listen to Yaro teach that he’s not into hype, he declares on his sales page that this isn’t about getting rich quick, his lessons are clear and that he gives concrete strategies. I know from the numerous times that Yaro and I have met in person that he’s a genuine guy and just loves to help people learn how to blog.

As a result I’d highly recommend the program and hope that you enjoy the experience as much as I have in the time I’ve spent in BlogMastermind. You can sign up either on month by month basis (getting a taste in the first month) or get the full access to the program all at once for six months at a discounted rate.

Bonuses for ProBlogger Readers

Yaro is offering the first 100 students to invest BlogMastermind 3 free bonuses. The bonuses are live teleconferences on three aspects of blogging (using video, website conversion and conversion blogging).

However Yaro has generously just told me that ALL ProBlogger readers will receive these three bonuses - whether you’re in the first 100. You will need to signup using one of the links in this post (like this one) to qualify for this.

My Bonus to ProBlogger Readers

As an extra bonus to those of you who sign up through Problogger I’m going to put up a few prizes.

First Prize - one student to sign up through the ProBlogger link in the next two days will get a Flip Video Mino Series Camcorder.

5 Runner Up Prizes - 5 students who sign up in the next two days will get a copy of the ProBlogger book.

I’ll choose the prizes at random in 48 hours from anyone who subscribes from this page - you can do it here.

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Just a small, possibly controversial, thought on Redlasso shutting their doors for bloggers to use their content.

NBC and Fox filed copyright infringement actions against Redlasso for allowing users search, clip, and post excerpts from copyrighted video content on their blogs. Redkasso (rightly) closed up their free service, but continues to supply to (paying) business customers.

There were some puzzled, angry bloggers out there wondering why they would keep their system up for the bigwigs, but close off access to the free “beta” service. Press releases crowing about Fair Use and whatnot.

Just because it’s a clip and you’re commenting on it does not make it fair use. Why?

Blame Google.

If you have AdSense ads, or any ads whatsoever on your blog, it’s not fair use. You’re making money. With someone else’s content.

Some people have a problem with that, other’s don’t. My flickr photos are Creative Commons licensed. I still have the Copyright, but I can decide how to license my content. Maybe one day I will decide that I want to charge for using them. But not yet.

Did you know that TV networks don’t always own their content? House, MD is broadcast on Fox but owned by NBC Universal. Even if Fox had no problem with RedLasso allowing House to be clipped, it’s not up to the broadcaster. It’s up to the content owner.

RedLasso might even have permission to be distributing clips to paying subscribers. I know at least one other service that does something similar. But those subscribers can’t do just anything with the clips. Especially if money changes hands.

I care about Fair Use. I’ve been involved in the issue since DeCSS hit the ‘net. Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt. Really. I do have a DeCSS T-Shirt.

I also know that copyright is a serious thing. Producing content, whether written, video, or audio is hard. If you pay for it, you do have rights. Fair Use. First Sale. Stuff like that.

Why are people so angry about losing something they didn’t have in the first place?

Some of you have noticed that I’ve been doing some experimentation in recent months with geolocation. Geolocation is a very powerful aspect of the next generation web. Particularly in the mobile space.

Boulder, CO-based Brightkite stormed on the scene a few months back as a location based micro blogging network. Members could take photos from the cellphones, send short messages to be posted to the service, and follow their friends. Based on the concept of location, Brightkite users could “check in” to a location. I am currently checked in at “Woodlawn, Maryland”, a fairly generic location since I value my privacy in my home. However, people can check-in down to specific addresses, cafés, places of employment, etc.

Though my fascination with Brightkite as a mobile microcontent network has faded, their is one aspect to it that I find extremely valuable in the absence of GPS on my Blackberry and the lack of ownership of an iPhone 3G. That is their KML file.

I set about creating a plugin that would parse the KML file of the most recent Brightkite check in location. Thus, WP-Brightkite was born.

Notably, for those folks interested in the geotagging content, the Brightkite plugin will parse latitude and longitude of the most recent checkin and geotag feeds using the ICBM RSS namespace. For a little extra bling, I’ve provided a template tag which drops a little Google Map next to the subject line of posts with geotagging (see this post, for instance).

1. Upload the wp-brightkite/ directory to /wp-content/plugins/
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
3. Fill out Brightkite user data on your profile page. Note: Standard WP permissions apply.
4. Use the <?php post_gmap() ?> within your template to print a mini 10×10 map icon, clickable for Google Maps location.

There’s quite a bit more I want to do with this, but since I’ve been using it here on Technosailor.com for a few months, I wanted to get it into the wild and fix any bugs (thus the beta tag) before exploring more functionality.

Let me know what you think, and consider a donation.

Other than Chicken Schwarma  and Green Giant, I refuse to date guys from my gym. It has nothing to do with their personality, or even their looks, it has to do with me having to see them again. (Ok, ok, I’ve yet to meet someone from the gym who has any personality).

To be honest, I would LOVE to meet someone who worked out as much as I do. However, history has shown that quality men don’t hang out at my gym.

In any case where I have taken a chance and ignored my self-imposed rules, I’ve ended up on a bad date. Dating men from the gym is like dating guys you work with…only a good idea if it’s really going to go somewhere, else-wise, it’s awkward and embarrassing.

9 times out of 10, the guy wants to see me again, so he’ll show up to the gym during my regular times so that he can bump into me since I haven’t been returning his calls. I, however, avoid him. I’m definitely not one of those people who would stop going to the gym for any reason, so I have to change my times. I have to start getting up early in the morning to get in a sub-par workout or coming in late at night when I am dead tired. I have even changed gyms to avoid certain people.

This is too much disruption in my life, and therefore, I refuse to do it. I have self-imposed rules for a reason.

Quietly, a sleeping giant has been evolving. That sleeping giant is Silverlight, a Microsoft rich media technology to rival Adobe’s Flash/Flex platform.

On this date, July 28, there is a dearth of Silverlight content on the web. Almost all the major video sites use Flash players, with Hulu, an NBC property, being a probable exception. However, that is about to change.

NBC Universal is a partner with Microsoft, and the two have collaborated to produce properties such as MSNBC among other joint ventures. In just a short week from now, the next generation of the Microsoft-NBC Universal partnership will unfold before an international audience. NBC’s coverage of the Olympics will be live streamed over the internet using Microsoft Silverlight technology.

I’ve talked to people recently who have discussed the Silverlight platform in the context of competition with Adobe and the ubiquity of Flash. The consensus is that Flash will be here for awhile yet, but as more and more adoption of Silverlight occurs, the Flash footprint could wane significantly. Developers need reason to use a new technology and with the absence of such reason, the status quo will remain.

That reason could very well be the widespread success, if it is a success, of the Olympic coverage on Olympics.com.

But wait, there’s more.

Silicon Alley Insider reported yesterday that an announcement would be made announcing NBC live coverage of Sunday Night Football during the 2008 season over the web. That’s right. Streaming games, multiple camera angles, instant in-home replay, statistics and more.

Which platform is poised to leverage this astonishing about-turn from NFL press mongers? You got it… Silverlight.

Why would NBC invoke any other technology than Silverlight to render rich media content over the web when the technology is quite possibly powering Hulu-powered television and quite possibly about to be a rousing success at the Olympics.

As a side note, the NFL about face on the use of the internet is interesting. Those who have read this site for a long time recall the video podcast that I did from Ravens training camp that was shut down. The video is in my archives if you want to go looking. It’s quite funny, actually.

The NFL is calling this a one year experiment to determine the interest in viewers engaging and consuming their content in non-traditional ways. I look forward to the report that rubber stamps what we’ve known for quite some time: online video consumption, live and otherwise, is replacing televisions in homes across America.