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I know that I can save myself alot of time and distraction if I just put these e-mails somewhere far, far away, so I’m going to filter them to an entirely new account. Then, I can set up a schedule to manage them in “batches”. Maybe I’ll check the account once a day, maybe three times a week. Maybe once a week. What’s important is that they will be far away from the more important e-mails that go directly into my inbox.

If e-mails from social networking sites are distracting you I’m going to show a special trick to get them out of your way. Check out this screencast.

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Facebook disabled my account, and didn’t tell me why. The other day, as I was trying to comment on a Lifehacker thread using their super-cool Facebook Connect integration, I received this message:

HUH?! Disabled? How could my account be disabled? How could they take away from me my main means of communicating with my friends back in San Francisco, and everywhere else? Now I can’t even play Scrabble with my own mother!? Oh, yeah, AND WHY THE FUCK WAS MY ACCOUNT DISABLED?

At first I thought maybe it was this Tweet:

I figured, probably the words “teen sex”, followed by a link, set off some sort of flag when it was syndicated to my status message. One would think they would have a more sophisticated system for screening these things, but whatever. I sent them a message explaining this may have been it.

Then it was pointed out to me that since this tweet started with an “@” it probably wasn’t syndicated to my status message. The mystery continues.

Then I remembered a message I got a few weeks ago, regarding a video I posted that included a song by Spoon.

Hello,

We have removed your video entitled “Proportional Design Technique Time Lapse” uploaded at 8:20pm February 4th, 2009. We did this because we learned that your video might include copyrighted material owned by a third party, such as a video clip or background audio.

If you are the copyright owner, or have permission from the rights holder to upload and distribute this material on Facebook, you may file a counter notice of alleged infringement by following the link below.

Please note that if you re-upload this video without filing a counter notice, or if you upload another video that infringes on the rights of a third party, our system will again remove the content. This could cause your access to the Facebook Video application to be disabled, or your Facebook account to be disabled.

For any other questions, view our Help page.

The Facebook Team

“Okay,” I thought. A little anal, considering the video is only being shared with my friends, but whatever. Typical sort of language for this thing: “this could cause your access to the Facebook Video application to be disabled, or your Facebook account to be disabled.” Surely this language is for flagrant offenders. Anyway. Done deal. I can go on with my life, and spend the rest of my days throwing as many sheep at my friends as I wish.

Well, I guess there was one other video I had up that had a copyrighted song. A little experiment I did with processing.org and a Crystal Castles tune. I uploaded this video well before the Spoon one, so I didn’t think to take it down. Besides, they’ll just take it down and send me another message. Right? Right?

So, I’m left to assume that this was the egregious violation I had committed – putting up a video with a soundtrack that included a copyrighted song. By a group that, incidentally has had some copyright troubles themselves.

It’s been about 48 hours since my account was disabled, and still no comment from Facebook, or response to my inquiry. It’s as if my very existence has just gone into the ether. All those comments from my regular status updates via Twitter – shall be no more. Unless I get my account back.

Oh yeah, and that Facebook application that I spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours developing (which was also just about killed by the new API) what happens to that?

• Something is fucked here: yes, I did violate the Facebook Terms of Use by uploading a copyrighted video. In fact – TWO of them. But really guys? Disable my account? And cut off access to a portion of my business without word of when, why, whatTF? That’s a dick move. Would the same happen were I to publish a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night, or a picture of The Lone Cypress?
• Everyone should know: Facebook needs to know that if they are going to encourage users to invest their entire social lives in their platform, and to entrust them with housing and managing all of this personal data, those users – excuse me – PEOPLE are going to need to know that access to their own personal data isn’t going to be destroyed on little more than a whim.
• So, those of you on the inside can you start one of those Facebook group thingies? Join this group (thanks, Fayza). Get the word out that Facebook is very unforgiving with their policies, and can destroy this account you hold dear without notification.

If you’re on Twitter, please tweet this:

Save @kadavy! Facebook disabled his account: http://tr.im/h7Ji Please ReTweet!

Be careful what you trust Facebook with. After this experience, I made this video about it:

Photo by willgame

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1. Try not to follow more than follow you. (this is admittedly childish and snobbish) Every once in awhile I go through all of my newest Twitter follower e-mails (I have a rule that automagically archives them into a folder), and see if they are reputable people I should be following, or just spammers. The first thing I look at (and I imagine is the case for others) is follower/following ratio. If it’s less than 1, I’m instantly turned off. Then I’ll look at their latest tweet, or two. They better be damn interesting/useful for me to then decide to follow this person back. If the ratio is more than 1, I’ll look at more tweets than in the former scenario, but they still better be interesting/useful.
2. Say something interesting. Sure, Twitter is about “what you’re doing right now,” but c’mon! They don’t mean that. Well, you can use it for that if you really want to, but if you’re really trying to get a following, then you will have to do better than that. Make sure you’re saying things that concern those whom you want to have following you, rather than just you. The fact that your coffee is too hot today probably doesn’t concern anyone other than yourself. Now, a link to a coupon that will get your followers 25% off at Starbucks, well, that’s another story. If you’re looking for followers surrounding a particular category, then scour the web for really amazing new stuff around that topic, and tweet links to that stuff. It will pay off in the long run.
3. 

   GOD! I hate all you fucking complainers!
   Don’t complain. I think this is called “Twitter bitching,” and yeah, we all do this, but there are some people you would swear only do this (not that I’m complaining . Think twice just before you hit send on that tweet that simply says “I’m sick,” and in pursuit of the former tip, maybe say something like “there’s nothing that works better for my colds than aromatherapy with eucalyptis essential oils [link].” 
4. Track things. You know that link from your tip about treating colds? Wouldn’t you like to know if anyone gave a crap about that tweet? Try putting that link through a URL-shortening service that tracks clicks. I like to use snipr, but cli.gs does it too. This way you can get an idea of how interesting your tweets are to your followers, and adjust accordingly.
5. 

   Oh, so many tweets scheduled!
   Tweet at the right time. You want people to read your tweets, right? So make sure the important ones go through during prime-time. In my experience, for business-related stuff, that’s during working hours. If you come up with a doozy over the weekend, or finish up your latest blog post at 3am, don’t tweet it right then! Use a service like TweetLater to get the word out at a time that works better. I have yet to find a URL-shortening service that tracks activity by time-of-day, but if anyone knows of one, let me know!
6. Engage in conversation. Unless you’re famous for that very fact, you aren’t going to get much of a following by not engaging with your audience. Respond to people’s tweets with useful thoughts. Ask people questions when you need help. You end up helping people in the former situation, and making others feel useful in the latter (besides getting your questions answered). I know it’s hard to keep track of all of those @ replies, but TweetLater, in addition to helping you…Tweet…Later, provides an @replies digest e-mail, that is delivered to your inbox on regular intervals, so you won’t miss out.
7. Here is my last tip. When you’re linking to something, arouse curiosity. Get your audience motivated. How many times have you seen someone tweet “here’s my new blog post: [link].” Why on earth should I click on that? What the hell is your post about? I recommend pulling out an interesting tidbit of information from the post, and tweeting it, along with the (shortened with a trackable URL-shortening service) link.

What are your killer Twitter tips?

*In case you’re wondering here’s what a webcock is. I wouldn’t have wanted to put that link at the beginning of the post, now would I have? (I want you to read the post)

Explosion photo via kevindooley, graffiti photo via aturkus clock photo via avlxyz

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The to-do items in the popular Project Management application, Basecamp, are a great example of the screwdriver principle at work in a user interface. There are so many characteristics that users must request to be added to this – “I want a due date”, “what about dependencies?” “I want them to be numbered” – yet they just keep it simple. If you really want those features, you can just type a due date, or a dependency, or a number, into the open field there is. Those who don’t want those features keep their usable interface, and those who do can just…be a little more creative.

Screwdriver photo from Djenan

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You try working at home, but you get so lonely you start talking to your cat – and he just can’t hold up his end of a conversation when it comes to foreign policy.

So you hit the cafe. The freedom to change venues based upon your whim suits your creative line of work, and at least now there are some people around; but you don’t know any of them, and every time you try to strike up a conversation with the Barista, he just glares blankly from under his emo bangs and offers you a scone. Every couple of hours, you’re faced with The Laptop Dilemma.

Then you hear about coworking. “Brilliant!” you think, and sign right up. You love having access to a whiteboard and a meeting room now and then, but then it sinks in that you’re paying $500 a month to commute to the same place every day again, and you’re pretty sure the guy in the desk next to you has never used a Kleenex in his life.

Can you identify with any of this? Then Moworking is for you. Moworking allows independent professionals to gather together to work in the same location at the same time. You get the variety of working from wherever you choose, with a community of like-minded people that you can trade tips with, do business with, or just use to watch your laptop while you take a walk around the block.

How Moworking…Works

Moworking works by protocoled use of Twitter‘s hashtags and wiki knowledge sharing to allow independent workers to gather to work in a particular location at the same time.

Start a Moworking “Pod”

1. Start working in any publicly-accessible place with good Moworking amenities (WiFi and power outlets are key), like a cafe, for example.
2. Twitter “#[moworkingcityhashtag] at [locationnameandrelevantdetails], http://moworking.org” (the link to Moworking helps spread it)

Find/Join Moworking Pods

1. Track the [moworkingcityhashtag] of your choice on Twitter. Make sure your device updates are on, and you’re set up to receive updates on your Mobile Device. To track a City Tag, just Twitter “track [moworkingcityhashtag]“
2. When you get a tweet that includes [moworkingcityhashtag], go to the location mentioned in the tweet. If you know the person who sent the tweet, then finding them will be easy – otherwise, hopefully they have a clear picture on their Twitter profile.
3. Briefly greet the Pod member(s) and start Moworking.

Moworking in Motion

David is feeling social today, so instead of working from home, he decides he wants to Mowork from a cafe. He lives in San Francisco’s Mission District, but decides he wants to try a different neighborhood. He checks out the Moworking Directory, and sees that there’s a Moworking-friendly cafe Downtown called Golden Gate Perk. So, he hops on the train and heads to Golden Gate Perk. He’s happy to see that it has WiFi, plenty of outlets for his laptop, and staff that doesn’t seem to mind him getting some work done on his laptop.

David is happy at Golden Gate Perk, but would like some company. So, he starts a Moworking “Pod” by Tweeting according to the Moworking Protocol: “#moworkingsf at Golden Gate Perk, Downtown http://moworking.org.”

Rob is just getting up for the day, and is thinking it’s a good day to hit the cafe circuit. Rob Moworks with David often, so when he gets David’s Twitter message, the decision is easy for him as to where to go. He hops on the train and heads to Golden Gate Perk. When he gets there, he greets David and checks in according to the Moworking Protocol.

Fayza is running some errands Downtown, but is hoping to get some work done this afternoon. Since she tracks “moworkingsf” on Twitter, she gets both David and Rob’s messages directly from her phone. “There’s quite the Pod developing at Golden Gate Perk!” she says to herself. She knows David, but hasn’t met Rob before, though she remembers seeing his picture on the Moworking Wiki. She steps into Golden Gate Perk and sees David and Rob, plugging away on their laptops. After David briefly introduces Fayza and Rob, Fayza checks in according to the Moworking Protocol, and the three of them are one happy Moworking Pod. 

They get the pleasure of working at the cafe, but don’t have to do so alone – and they have friends to watch their laptops when they go to the bathroom!

Find out more about Moworking, and add your favorite venues on the Moworking Wiki.

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Turn on device updates for the friends you're most interested in hearing from
     
• Turn on device updates for your close friends. Maybe you have some friends who you always want to get the Tweets of. Just make sure Device Updates are on for them (and off for other people), and switch on Device Updates in your Preferences. Now next time someone from your posse is looking to borrow a power drill, you’ll get the message.

Track your own username, not mine!
• Track your username. When someone mentions you, you want to know about it, right? Just send Twitter “track yourusername” and next time someone you don’t know responds to your hilarious observation on baby strollers in Noe Valley, you’ll hear about it right away*. This is also good for hearing from those friends who are too noisy to track on device updates.

Don't forget that you have some control over your mobile phone preferences.
• Turn off device updates for when you’re snoozin’. For now it looks like you have to settle for blocking out a time for each day, so you may miss out on that 2am burrito run on Saturday night.

So fear not about turning on Device Updates on Twitter. It’s alot more fun when you can have the relevant stuff coming to your mobile, while you leave the rest of it for the occassional web update. *Keep this in mind if you have yet to sign up for Twitter, and be sure to pick a really unique username that isn’t likely to appear as part of normal conversation, or even as a part of a word. Otherwise, this just isn’t going to work. Sorry, @t.

Photo by cjsorg.

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A couple of weeks ago, I had one of my popular sinus infections. I already knew that I had a sinus infection, and I had just had another one a few months prior. So, I called up the doctor that I saw when I had my last sinus infection, and said “hey doc, I have the exact same symptoms as last time – can you call in a prescription for me?” 30 minutes later, I was picking up my prescription at Walgreens. Instead of costing me something like $300, like my last sinus infection, I got out of this one for about 30. This is what healthcare should be like!

Then it dawned on me. Why is it, with all of this health information that’s available on the web, and all of the new ways that people can interact, that there has been hardly any change in the doctor/patient relationship? Well, I know, that’s a dumb question, but in a more agile world, things would be different. Here’s a potential use case:

- I get another sinus infection.
- I log into a sort of “My Healthcare” interface.
- The interface has quicklinks for some of my most common health problems
- I click on “sinus infection.”
- There’s a check-list of questions, perhaps mentioning some symptoms I may have that may be a sign of a different condition.
- After verifying that I have the correct symptoms for a sinus infection, the system recommends some prescriptions for me.
- I’m given the option to choose other prescriptions that may work. I’m picky about my antibiotics.
- My prescription request is sent to my doctor’s “people” for approval, or possible escalation, and I’m sent status notifications via SMS or e-mail.
- I pick up my prescription. I save time and precious energy, and my doctor is freed up to treat people who actually need his help.

I was once a Kaiser Permanente patient, and they had made some good strides towards “automating” some healthcare processes. I was even able to e-mail my doctor. Still, the experience was far from being like the above.

I would think that with the increasingly prevalent DIY attitude of people, the amount of health information available on the web, the advances in social media, and the outrageous costs of healthcare in America conditions would be ripe for a revolution.

Of course, maybe it’s already happening (very gross video from a member of a kadavy.net spin-off community):

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