I admit it, I have a love hate relationship with social media.

I know all the experts say it’s important, but I also know it can be a real time sucker. One of my goals for this year is to streamline my social media time.

Social Media Goals

Does this mean I’ll still goof off on facebook sometimes?- you bet. Will I still click that irrelevant yet funny link on Twitter?- of course. I don’t want to suck the life out of my work after all. Even people with office jobs chat with co-workers or eat doughnuts in the break room from time to time.

So, inspired by my social media goals, I found a post by Jay Baer to be most interesting and helpful. It’s titled 11 Mind-Blowing reasons Your Business Needs Facebook (link below). And from a practical standpoint, this post is very insightful.

Disqus and facebook Connect

I recently tried out a new Disqus plugin for comments on Blue Duck- partially because I wanted something better than the standard WP version, and partly because it came up in my research about facebook Connect. Disqus gives readers the option of signing in using a facebook account. It also makes it easy for readers to invite facebook friends to view a post or update a facebook status with a link to the website and the post they are reading.  I’m liking the Disqus plugin very much, and I am also liking what I am reading about facebook Connect.

Jay lists facebook Connect as one of the biggest potentials to come from the facebook craze, and I tend to agree. I was also intrigued to read the statistics he gives about facebook usage and growth trends. I also noticed that I spend WAY more time on facebook each day than the average user. Time to curb those status checking impulses a little better. Thanks, Jay, for calling it to my attention.

11 Mind-Blowing reasons Your Business Needs Facebook (Jay has a very neat website, too. Check it out!  )

Friend Jamie on facebook

Follow Jamie on Twitter

photo credit: ana young

photo credit: [ Roberto Bouza ]

In yet another domain name dispute, Google leaves the table with its tail tucked between its legs. The search giant lost a recent lawsuit against Groovle.com, where Google watchdogs claimed that the domain name bears enough resemblance to Google.com  to constitute a copyright infringement. The courts say otherwise, making the lawsuit only the second loss in a series of similar suits filed by the leading search engine. (Information Week reports on the Google vs. Groovle lawsuit.)

What exactly does a Groovle do? The Canadian-based website offers customizable search homepages. That’s right, you can finally get that Twilight or Megan Fox fix every time you search with a groovy Groovle search page. You can also upload your own images to make a one-of-a-kind search homepage. (Get yours at Groovle.com.)

While I’m not ready to give up Google just yet, I do like the idea of choosing my own background images to look at every morning while I browse my favorite blogs and news sites. Perhaps Google will take the loss in stride and offer a similar service as a form of “I’m taking my ball and going home”. Either way, Groovle is in headline news and flying high, for now.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

I have several posts planned on business tools, keywords, and SEO, but I feel the need to rant a little first. I suffered a bit of culture shock this morning after cocooning for over a week- I watched the news.

Naked Confrontation

Okay, perhaps I’m tired and still a little drained and I can blame it all on the flu, or perhaps today was a wake-up call for me.

I may be a little idealistic, but I found CNN down-right offensive today. I was sitting in the local McDonald’s with my boys and my ears perked up at the mention of a conflict between the Chinese navy and one of our own ships in International waters. The reporter stated that a Pentagon spokesperson described the incident as “one of the most aggressive actions we’ve seen in some time.” (Well, what a wonderfully typically vague political statement.) So, I continued to watch through the commercial to find out what happened. That’s when the disgust hit. The headline posted at the bottom of the screen read “nearly naked confrontation”.

What?

It seems that the USNS Impeccable felt threatened by the Chinese ships and responded with the only “weapon” they had- a fire hose. They soaked the sailors, who stripped to their underwear and continued the harassment.

Okay, the whole thing is a little comical if it were a Saturday morning cartoon, but this was real life. It disturbs me that CNN would stress the nakedness of the Chinese sailors over what such hostility actually means. At the end, the reporter quickly mentioned that pentagon officials speculate the Chinese government is testing the new U.S. president.

Not So Personal and Private it Can’t be Headline News

I changed channels. On Headline News, Nancy Grace was up in arms over “personal, private home videos released of Caylee Anthony and her mother”. People flashed across the screen and debated whether these videos were released to help Casey Anthony’s defense. Callers argued that the videos clearly show that the woman loves her child, therefore she couldn’t have murdered her.

What?

Casey Anthony refers to Caylee as “that little girl” when telling reporters how much she misses her daughter. Would you refer to your then-missing daughter in such an impersonal, third-person description? And who says mothers can’t suffer from mental illness, or get mixed up with some guy who wants the little bundle of joy out of the picture? Do these scenarios sound familiar? Perhaps the mother associated with the wrong people and they killed Caylee to make a point, or get even? What do home videos of a mother playing with her daughter prove? Do you really expect to see someone shooting home videos of Casey Anthony telling her daughter she is unloved, unwanted, a mistake? (Point a camera in my direction and I instantly smile. We put on our best Happily Ever After face.) Yet millions tuned in to watch the videos, because we have a sick fascination with the case. The show went on to talk about the interviews, book deals in the making, and thousands of dollars paid to Casey Anthony and her family for their stories. Does this not make anyone else nauseous?

Your Pain, My Gain

Next up on the news is everyone’s favorite feel-good talk show host- Oprah. She’s pictured telling Rhianna that Chris Brown WILL hit her again.

Okay.

Girl, if she didn’t get the the message as her lover’s fists pummeled her face and choked her into unconsciousness, do you really think telling her it will happen again is going to have any effect?

But it’s good showmanship to speak out against domestic violence and give the appearance of “helping”. Goof for you, but if you’re going to talk the talk, walk the walk. Roll up your sleeves and volunteer at a domestic violence shelter, send Dr. Phil to her house for free counseling. Don’t preach at the girl when you have no idea what it’s like to be a victim of domestic violence. Rhianna is a victim, she doesn’t deserve to be humiliated or brow-beaten over her situation.

Nauseous News

Do we have to resort to sensationalism and sex for every event? Are we that depraved?

Oh, but nearly naked sailors, pictures of bodies lined up in the streets of a foreign country, pictures of bloodied swollen faces of beautiful stars, and stories of mothers who kill their children draw ratings!

B J sent me a heads up about a recent poll on religion. It shows more and more Americans are abandoning organized religion, and giving up faith all together. I don’t blame them, organized religion smells. It’s tainted, corrupt, discouraging.

So what can we do? Pray for this country. Pray long, pray hard. Fast on behalf of America, grieve for our nation. We need it.

Rant Complete? Check.

Up later this week: Office Tools for Your Online Business. You probably have an invaluable business tool sitting unused on your computer right now. We’ll show how to save money and work smarter with common software programs you may already own.

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

photo credit: preciouskhyatt

When the concept of surrendering and getting real began to surface in my life, I had mixed feelings. Mostly fear and excitement, but some anxiety and wariness as well.

When the excitement hit, I started envisioning a blog post. It was based on the fact that Christians are to confess our sins to each other, and failure to do so creates physical, emotional, and spiritual sickness in our lives. [Truth be told, over half of the sickness treated by the medical community today has a spiritual root, such as the failure to confess sins. (I would venture to say it is probably closer to 80-90%.)]

I began to think of how we are all afraid to reveal our weakness and failures, despite the fact that we each have them.  How powerful would it be if someone were to take that first step and say, “This is me, the real me. I fail, I hurt those I love, I do bad things when no one is looking. I struggle, I stumble, I think more of myself than I do of others. I lie, I cheat, I am the master of denial. I try hard, do better for awhile, then fail miserably. I am broken. I am human. I am a Christian.”?

If I could interview someone who was willing to be real, maybe others could see their faults are similar, and that it’s ok to be real with each other. But then the voice of reason chimed in and asked me where I would find such a person willing to submit themselves to public scrutiny- nowhere, that’s where.

Then, I got an email. Several emails in fact, from Lance at Jungle of Life. We were discussing surrender and getting real and I gave him the link to listen to my pastor’s sermon. He listened, and it hit him like it was hitting me. I never told him about my desire to do a “real interview”. I asked him to write out his thoughts on the sermon and see if we were both hearing the same thing. We were. And this is what Lance sent me:

Real.

What is that, anyway?

I am a Christian, a faithful servant seeking peace and love in this world we’re in.

Is that real? Is that how I live my life?

Or is it a little uglier than that?

I can get up on a Sunday morning and spend a couple of hours praising God. It will be all about showing love for Jesus. What happens, though, when I leave that moment I’ve had? What about the other 166 hours during the week? Am I continuing to show my love for God? Am I acting like the Christian I claim to be – one of love and mercy? Or perhaps, do I wear a different mask, one that fits the image I think society expects of me? And, if I’m doing this – wearing a mask over my true convictions – what does this say for being real?

Or maybe “real” is something altogether different.

What kind of barriers am I putting up every hour of every day? Barriers to protect the “who I really am”. Barriers to not let my guard down, to not let out any secrets that might not “fit” with the image others expect to see. I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at, and I don’t want to lose parts of that because I don’t match the standard people are expecting. How often have I “changed” just to protect an image. And how “real” is that?

Lies.

What about God in all of this? God loves us just the way we are. Are we perfect? Hardly. I’m a sinner (there, I said it!). I believe in a God who sent His son, Jesus, our Christ, to die for us. For these sins I’m committing. Yet, I hide behind walls to protect myself. What am I protecting? Am I concerned about what other might think? If they only knew…

• I’ve yelled at my kids for no reason at all
• I’ve shunned my wife because of my own selfish pride
• I’ve belittled others for no reason at all
• I’ve put on the face of a happy marriage, on days when things have been ugly
• I’ve shouted obscenities to the driver in the lane beside me

…and surely worse. Does this change your view of me? …because I haven’t shown these characteristics before? It’s easy, here at computer and keyboard – to become who we desire to be. Is that real, though? Or is this just another way to put up walls. To protect that image of what we want to be known for? Secrets hidden, for a life we want to believe is us.

We are “real”, all of us. Yet, we hide that “real” all too often. It’s time to let the “real” you out, and trust that there are people out there who will encourage you, support you, trust you, and love you. Your life is meant to be lived, and that’s about being real and being authentic.

Real.

What is that, anyway?

When you get alone with God…and honor and embrace Him
for all that He is…

• Holy
• Changeless
• Powerful
• Peaceful
• Generous
• Genuine
• All-knowing
• Blessed
• Beautiful
• Glorious
• Jealous
• Just
• Righteous
• The source of all truth, wisdom, goodness…. love
• Eternal
• Perfect

…you may find yourself speechless. But that’s okay.

“Be still and know that I am God.”~ Psalm 40:10

Sometimes,

silence

speaks louder than a scream.

That awe-filled silence comes before complete surrender.

This is just a quick post to let you know I have a guest post up over at Writer Dad’s. You all know the address, I’m sure. Sean asked for a guest posting long before the flu hit, and I wanted to make sure I delivered. It’s not my best writing, but it still has heart.

I plan to post a full-length doozie for you tomorrow. So if you’re not to busy shopping, wrapping, cooking, and visiting, stop by for some warm Christmas cookies and coffee for a few. See you then.