Blogchat: Sundays on Twitter

There’s one thing I’ve really gotten into the social media realm lately: Blogchat. This is a chat on Twitter where folks talk, er… tweet, about blogging-related topics.

Graphic by me via iPhone, using Hipstamatic & Phonto

I’ve made so many connections there, garnered blogging tips, and become more adept at Twitter by taking part. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in getting more from blogging (as a blog reader, I assume you may have an interest). Once, I even helped suggest a topic for an upcoming chat:

Mack Collier@MackCollier

This Sun's #blogchat topic, as suggested by @rsmithing &@jackinessity is What Writing Tips Can Make You a Better Blogger? cc @PilotPenUSA

16 Aug 12

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To participate, follow the hashtag #blogchat on Twitter, stay on topic, and keep hitting “refresh” on whatever means you use to keep up with the conversations. It’s fast-moving, so using a tool like TweetChat or HootSuite with multiple columns or tabs can be very helpful, although I’ve navigated it successfully just by using Twitter from the browser, or even by iPhone. It’s led by Mack Collier and happens every Sunday at 9:00 p.m., U.S. Eastern standard time. Recently covered topics include time management for bloggers, copyright issues, and using images.

Mack Collier@MackCollier

So what are some of your favorite sources of free photos? Where do you get the images from that you use on your blog? #blogchat

11 Nov 12

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There’s also a monthly open mic for non-specific blogging-related topics. Even if you don’t specifically participate 0r prefer just to listen in, that’s totally fine. You’ll probably still pick up a tip or two, and it’s a good way to see how the conversations flow.

Participating has encouraged me to explore other Twitter chats, and I’ve found them consistently beneficial, especially given the breadth of perspectives from some experienced and friendly folks. Try it sometime – and have fun chatting.

What do you think? Have you ever participated in a Twitter chat? What are some other resources you recommend for blogging advice and ideas? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

• Nine Steps to Becoming a Twitter Chat Pro (digitalethos.org)
• Five things to know before you start a healthcare Tweet chat to build community(medcitynews.com)
• What to Blog About: 7 Great Sources of Inspiration (geek-freemarketing.com)
• Danyelle Little @TheCubicleChick is One of My Social Media Heroes!(janiceperson.com)
• Ready for a Tweet Chat? 5 Tips on How to Join the Conversation(community.constantcontact.com)

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Thanksgiving in a Sub: Bob’s Gobbler Galore

Here’s what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving: discovering the Gobbler Galore at Bob’s Big Gas Subs & Pub. It’s a traditional Thanksgiving meal all in one single, delicious package: turkey, cranberries and mashed sweet potatoes topped with stuffing and gravy. IN A SUB. And it totally works.

I’m no food blogger, but Bob’s Gobbler Galore warrants documenting.

It’s only available three days a year, and I’ve consumed one on two of those days. It probably would have been all three if I’d known about it on Monday.

Bob’s Big Gas Subs & Pub

Located in in Winston-Salem, NC in a building from 1938, Bob’s serves up a range of subs and other goodies, all with super-friendly service in a stylishly casual environment. Check them out if you’re in the area. Here’s what folks are saying over at Yelp andUrbanspoon.

Then:

Now:

Besides the Gobbler Galore, I personally recommend trying the Sassy Kat sub. Or if you’re really hungry, go for Bob’s Big Gastrointestinal Challenge, as made famous (infamous?) by local newscaster, Nicole Ducouer. You can even get a dollar off with this coupon from Carolina podcasters, The Less Desirables.

What do you think? Ever had a meal in a sandwich? Would you try a Gobbler Galore? What are you thankful for this time of year? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

• Bob’s Big Gas Subs & Pub Facebook Page (facebook.com)
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Friendly Fireman: Single Image Sundays

I met this fellow last week. He is actually a fireman. And he was friendly enough to let me take his picture. I explained that it would end up in a wild edit and showed him some examples on the spot with my phone. He was cool with that. And here we are. Check out more like this at my Pinterest, Flickr, iPhoneArt,Instagram, or 500px collections.

What do you think? Ever met someone randomly and asked if you could take their picture? How’d that go? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

• Fireman gives kiss of life to dog – Confused.com (confused.com)
• Google/Snapseed Deal Challenges Brands to Up the Ante with Photographic Content (greatfinds.icrossing.com)
• Tech Trends w/ Tara: Instagram Web Profiles (lmulibrary.typepad.com)
• Abandoned boy meets Texas fireman who saved him (newsday.com)

8Tracks: Music Curated

8tracks: handcrafted internet radio. Theirapps are pretty cool, too.

I’ve become fascinated with the playlist curation site, 8tracks. It allows users to upload songs from their personal libraries as playlists with tags and cover art, then share, browse and comment on playlists of other members. All for free. Think of it as cloud-based mixtapes with social functionality included (comments, tags, profiles, etc.).

I’d been a casual listener of the site for a while (and similar sites like Pandora and Blip.fm), but only when hosting an ’80s-themed party recently did I fully get into the full 8tracks experience.

The two above were the perfect soundtracks. Turns out there are scores of ’80s playlists already hand-picked and battle-tested by folks who care enough to share them with the world. And now I’m making my own playlists – which embed beautifully here:

My 8tracks playlists: singles, covers, guitars…

It’s been fun for me to see who likes these and then to check out their playlists myself. As a person who enjoys discovering new music perfectly suited to my tastes, this is rather exciting, as I now have several promising playlists to explore. Heck, TIME magazine even named 8tracks the best site of 2011. If you’re into discovering and sharing music, you should definitely give 8tracks a try.

What do you think? Have you ever used 8tracks? Is there a similar music discovery site that you recommend? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

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• She Speaks (on): Internet Music Databases, Part Deux(shelistensshereadsshespeaks)
• Streaming Radio Service 8tracks Relaunches On iPhone: App Rebuilt From Ground-Up With New Look, Better Music Discovery (techcrunch.com)
• 8Tracks for iPhone Makes Finding and Streaming New Music and User-Created Mixes Easy and Fun (lifehacker.com)

A New Way For Music: Eno and Soundcloud

I’m a total news junkie. Always reading, listening, scanning; it’s fun for me. And I’m a music geek — that’s practically a religion. So of course I was interested in this story about Brian Enoreported by MarketPlace Tech Report, available via SoundCloud.

Photo: Brian Eno | Edit: rsmithing | Click for original

Eno has just launched a musical app, Scape, that gives listeners a new system for interacting with the sounds. Interestingly, Eno & his team developed the concept for this years before we all had smartphones and tablets. He describes it as:

…the move from one type of composer to another: the “let’s push the boat out together & see where it lands” type.

Scape App

So as listeners, we have the opportunity to be something more, while using an artist’s input to make our own creation. Not unlikeInstagram, or audio mashups like those by John Boswell, aka Melodysheep.

Who is Brian Eno?

I’ve never listened to much Brian Eno music, but I thought I’d give this interview a chance. Wow, am I glad I did. Eno is a deep musical thinker, which makes for a highly interesting listen, especially considering his perspective, having worked on such a breadth of projects. Many of my favorite artists have eitherworked with or referenced him regularly (Depeche Mode, NIN, Devo).

The guy is quite eloquent. Here are some quips from the full interview:

• On his new album: “A closely-guarded secret launched onto an ocean of indifference.”
• On using Scape: “You’re making an ecosystem of sounds. You’ve got quite a few creatures you can put into this little garden here.”
• On curation: “We’re going to have to come up with this type of system to short circuit the vast amount of material that’s out there for us to look at now.”

Putting curation into practice, Eno has a friend whose taste he admires send him a mix CD of new music each month… but doesn’t get the list of artists and songs until one month later, in order to “listen without prejudice,” since as a professional musician, he isn’t necessarily listening to as much music as he might be creating. It’s an interesting concept, especially to hear Eno himself describe it (at about 15:32)…

SoundCloud: I Like It

Besides the content, what really motivated me to blog about this interview was the opportunity to explore SoundCloud at the same time. SoundCloud is a site I’m becoming more pleased with every time I interact with it.

I started listening to the interview on my iPhone through iTunes, having subscribed to the podcast previously. In the brief 4-minute story from the podcast, the host referred listeners to the extended version at the MarketplaceTech.org site. I keyed that in and found a link to the full interview, which played on my phone effortlessly over 3G, streaming through SoundCloud. Having previouslyregistered at the site, I was able to add it to my list of “likes,” and embed a clip here on the blog afterward, since I emailed myself a link and tweeted about it from the site’s mobile page:

Richard Smith@rsmithing

Cool interview: Brian Eno on his new app & album via@MarketplaceTech soundcloud.com/marketplace-ra…

7 Nov 12

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It’s great to discover and interact with something new — successfully, enjoyably and consistently like SoundCloud.

What do you think? Are you a fan of Brian Eno’s music? What other collaborative art examples does this bring to your mind? Do you have any experience with SoundCloud or similar sites? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

• Brian Eno and His New App (superradnow)
• Scape: the Brian Eno album that you create (telegraph.co.uk)
• Brian Eno Back to Ambient Roots, in iPad App with Peter Chilvers, Upcoming Album (createdigitalmusic.com)
• Brian Eno’s New App Redefines The Concept Of An Album (businessinsider.com)
• Feed Your Ears // Lukid, Stott & Eno (beatsandbobs.com)