Would you utilize a social network "pause" button? It sounds practical in today's world of information overload.

The problem with social networks is it's all or none. When you follow someone, you follow everything they say - all of their activity. And let's face it, some people are more actively involved than others. I would consider myself in that category of being more actively involved.

We all have our "moments" where we basically invite others to unfollow us through too frequent updating or lack of inspirational posts.

So a "pause" button might make sense. You could turn off, or "mute" certain individuals from time-to-time. Then, when you've starting longing for their updates again, it's easy to turn them back on.

Not sure I like it

Another part of me doesn't like the idea at all. It fosters "fake" relationships and deceives users. If someone is going to unfollow you, putting you on "pause" is just delaying the inevitable.

"Hey, I know you've been trying to connect with me lately, but truthfully, I haven't been following your updates. You've been on pause the whole time."

To one user, it appears as if they made a new contact. In truth, the other user was not really interested in connecting.

You'd have to ask yourself, "Why am I putting this person on pause?" It's probably best to just unfollow them. If I long for them in the future, I can always find them again.

Also, knowing that the pause option exists, I'd be less inclined to connect with new followers (especially ones I followed first), because of the possibility that I may already be on pause to them.

It's kinda like, "Yeah, I see you. But I don't care to listen to you."

Already exists?

In most social networks, this type of thing already exists. Usually you can choose to receive notifications or device updates on an individual basis.

This type of granular control is already out there. And in most cases, it's enough to essentially "mute" a person, without unfollowing them.

Overall

In the end, it's best to accept the truth. Be an adult and learn to understand that everyone is different, and just because they unfollowed you, it doesn't mean they hate you, or think you are the most annoying person in the world.

People often look for themselves in social networks, that is - people like them. If you don't fit that mold for someone else, that's OK.

I often follow certain people in one social network, but not another. I tend to follow them in the network that highlights their strengths the most.

Spend your time making connections with the people that do follow you, and stop worrying about those that don't follow you. It's a complete waste of your energy.

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I am currently getting a free DVD rental for an entire month from Netflix, due to a lawsuit settlement that benefits Netflix subscribers.

This is a win-win for subscribers, and for Netflix.

You may think, "How is that a win for Netflix? They are footing the bill on that extra DVD being mailed back and forth all month."

Yes, but they're also teasing subscribers with the extra rental. Once those subscribers realize how nice it is having that extra DVD at home, they'll more likely upgrade their plan to include another DVD, once the settlement benefit ends. It's just extra promotion for Netflix.

This is why I think such services should just give away rentals for free, for a period of time. If you're new to Netflix, and not sure you want to do it, or if you recently quit Netflix for other reasons, keep sending the DVD's out (for a period of time). The potential customer (or former customer) will love getting the free DVD's, that perhaps they'll join (or re-join) for good.

This gives me another idea.

Netflix could absolutely bury Blockbuster, Redbox, and other movie rental outfits by offering free DVD-by-mail rentals ... FOREVER.

It would be a new plan - let's say two-out at a time is always free. But, with commercials/ads included on the DVD. This is exactly how Hulu works for streaming movies.

I'd be willing to watch the ads if I wasn't being charged. And, if I want an ad-free version, I would just pay monthly fees like I do now.

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As SMS becomes the defacto way of communicating via mobile devices, it's no surprise that many services have come out that put the power of SMS in developers hands.

Zeep Mobile is the latest service providing developers an easy way to send and receive SMS from their own applications.

TextMarks and MsgMe are two other such services that have been out for a while.

So what does this mean for those wishing to have their applications interact with SMS? It means you're dependent on a service that, although free, has some drawbacks:

• The SMS short code is not your own unique code.
• Unless there's a paid version, there will be ads in your SMS messages, further limiting the available character space.
• Users have to become accustomed to prepending their updates with your unique keyword, ie: yourapp myupdate.

Still, it's nice knowing that SMS interaction won't cost you the two grand per month to own a unique short code.

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You can unfollow me. I won't take offense.

I understand I may not fit into your daily reading habits, or you simply may not know me that well. Or perhaps I just don't say anything inherently interesting. I go through peaks and phases where I'll post repetitively with little inspiration, and other times I'm full of conversational ideas.

My social network habits change, and sometimes I post more often, or talk about stupid things. I understand you may not like that. However, that only reflects my humanness.

But you're not perfect, either. So, before you leave me, consider your own habits and how others perceive you, and realize that there's no way right or wrong way to do anything. At least, that's yet to be seen with social networks, blogs, etc.

So I won't take offense if you unfollow me. You don't owe me anything. I'm thankful, and extremely fortunate, for any single person that ever read any of my pointless updates, blog posts, or any type of shared content through social networks or elsewhere. We live in a brave new world where communication boundaries have been shattered. We're free to talk to anyone, anywhere, and any time.

For those that I've friended, or inspired through content, I've lost touch with five others.

The cycle continues...

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My ten year high school reunion is coming up. I've opted not to go for various unrelated reasons, but it got me thinking about reunions in general. Are they worth it anymore? Do we really need to cram everyone in the same room while awkward greetings are made to old friends, crushes, or that person you never spoke to?

Do we really need to feign interest in everyone's life, asking the same questions over and over:

"So, what are you up to?"

"What are you doing these days?"

"Is that your kid?"

The fact is, we don't need reunions anymore. Reunions are what pre-internet people did. They had no other choice but to organize meetups, because that was the only way.

I've already touched base with many old friends through social networks like Facebook. Granted, writing on their wall doesn't replace face-to-face conversation, but reunions will eventually end, and people will go their separate ways again (until the next reunion).

Social networks are always on. Therefore, you've already been having your reunion, you just didn't know it!

Shrinking the past

Your reunion never ends. As scary as this sounds, it's true. The more involved you are in social networks, the more old faces you'll come across. And the more of your life you put on the web, the more involved in your life your "followers" will feel.

This essentially shrinks the past. Your past suddenly became your present, with a click of a mouse.

This may be a bit overwhelming, especially for that person you haven't spoke to in 20 years. But you'd be surprised! You'll probably discover that not much has changed. The only thing that changed was that you stopped taking interest in being a part of that person's life. "Going separate ways" is no longer an excuse.

With social networks, it's far too easy to stay involved in someone's life, at least indirectly.

So what are you waiting for? Find those old friends, crushes, and people you never spoke to. Make a connection before it's too late!

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As a developer, I'm used to dealing with bugs and issues in applications. Sure as the wind blows, there will always be bugs. It's just the nature of building applications.

I attack bugs as they are presented to me by users or internal application testers (or just anyone who catches it).

Sometimes resolving one bug leads to another (or many more). Actually, quite often this happens, and for developers, it presents a small dilemma.

Should we keep trying to resolve all the bugs/issues we find, stemming from that initial bug/issue, or just resolve that initial issue, and wait for someone to point out the new ones?

The latter seems wrong (and absolutely lazy), but it's often the right approach.

As a developer, your priorities are number one. If you were to dedicate 100% of your attention on every little bug you come across, you'd have no time for the real issues - the issues that people see (and have already reported). Just because you see a bug, that doesn't mean users will. And if users don't see it, initially, then it's probably not a high priority to fix.

Your time as a developer should be spent responding to bug reports already submitted. Once you resolve all of those, then it's OK to go back and fix those little things you noticed earlier.

Of course, this is all a "judgement call," so be sure to decide wisely. If it's a glaring, obvious bug, you should probably fix it right away.

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It was five years ago that I declared voicemail dead.

How far have we come since then?

Voicemail is still around, but text messaging has far surpassed voice messages. This is partly an assumption, but today's Chicago Tribune provides factual data.

AT&T reports its text-messaging volume for the second quarter of 2008 was 55 billion, a number that has tripled in just one year.

It seems many people prefer texting over leaving voicemails.

However, despite my earlier declaration that voicemail is dead, I only meant dead in it's current form. Voice is not dead, and never will be. Rather, it's the current archaic methods of leaving voice messages that could be greatly improved in today's fast-paced, text-based society.

Many services are available today which help heavy emailers and texters stay informed of new voice messages.

GrandCentral sends you an email for each new voice message, with a link to listen to the message on the web.

Pinger sends you a text message (or an email) with a callback number to immediately listen to the message.

These services prove that voice itself is not dead, but the traditional approach is no longer efficient.

Whereas I like leaving others voice messages, I hate having to call them just to get to their voice mailbox. What if they pick up? I didn't necessarily want (nor have the time) to talk in real-time this second, but rather just leave a quick memo about something on my mind.

Naturally, older generations are slower to adopt such new technologies, but I think it's just a matter of learning how to use it. By doing so, you'll be increasing your communication skills, thereby keeping in touch with more people.

What's not to like about that?

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I've been dreaming the last few days... pretending former Park Ridge little league teammate (and Maine South High School alum) Adam Rosales was me. The Cincinnati Reds called up Adam to play against his hometown Cubs this past week, and he got an at-bat against Carlos Zambrano himself in Wednesday's 2-1 Cubs loss.

As young lads growing up on the diamond, my brother and I played many years with Adam, and his brother Will, in Park Ridge little league baseball. Adam was a great pitcher at that age, but it seems he's worked on his batting skills since then because his scouting report looks pretty solid so far.

I hadn't known he was even playing baseball still, but you don't usually find out until something like this past Wednesday happens. Finding out that 1) Adam was still actively pursuing a baseball career, and 2) he was just called up against the Cubs at Wrigley, all came as a great, delightful shock to me.

A hometown boy, playing in the big leagues, at baseball's "Mecca" (as Jeff Samardjiza calls it), all hit me at once. I really couldn't believe it. I can't imagine what he must have felt that day as he arrived at the stadium he spent so much time as a kid.

The major leagues. Just a kid from Park Ridge, where I'm sitting right now typing this.

I've always had this larger-than-life image of professional sports. It takes on a whole new meaning when someone you know, or used to know, becomes a part of that.

My whole life I've watched phenoms and legends play the games. Guys I never knew personally, but knew quite well from seeing them so much on TV and in the newspapers.

In one way, it says a lot about a person you know getting to that step. Perhaps they could be just as "majestic" as the other guys.

In another way, it becomes somewhat less majestic because having known one of the players, and competed with him at some age, it makes the entire league feel watered down or "aged." After all, I'm old enough now that most professional athletes are younger than me.

In any event, I'm extremely excited for Adam, and he looks great in that big league uniform! I'll be keeping a close eye on his major and minor league stats. I'm hoping he gets up to the big leagues for good.

Although, then I may have to become a Cincinnati Reds fan, and that would be no good!

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Sorry if this comes across as shallow or disrespectful, but I'm just having some fun. As much as I enjoy watching the Olympic athletes compete, I also can't help noticing their incredibly fit bodies (partly because I'm jealous).

That being said, let's vote on the most attractive Olympic athletes. Since there are far too many to count, I'm just going to focus on American athletes, since after all, America is often considered a shallow and conceited nation, so why not add to it!?

That being said, here is a list of both men and women athletes which I think are attractive (the men I am only presuming are attractive ;).

Place your vote by adding a comment with the person's name. If a person is not listed here who you think is attractive, just add their name to your comment. Sorry this is not a more functional poll with easier voting options, but this was the quickest way to ask the question.

Women

• Jennie Finch (softball)
• Misty May-Treanor (volleyball)
• Nastia Liukin (gymnastics)

Men

• Michael Phelps (swimming)
• Jason Kidd (basketball)
• Todd Rogers (volleyball)

Feel free to add anyone else you may know. These were just the ones that popped into my head just now. I was going to include pictures as well, but that's too much work. Just Google them.

Oh, my vote is only for women, and it's Jennie Finch.

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Since I developed my own micro-update system to avoid Twitter's API limitations, I've reaped a lot of benefits that most Twitter users probably don't have:

• Unlimited accessible archives. (no API limitations)
• Still able to tweet when Twitter is down.
• Ability to scatter my updates.

I have so much more control over my updates.

To recap: I no longer update Twitter through traditional tools (Twitter web site, Twitter SMS number, or third-party Twitter apps). Rather, I created my own private app that sends my updates to a personal database first, then to Twitter if I so choose. It simply mirrors my updates. My followers don't notice any difference. To them, it appears as if I'm updating from Twitter's web interface.

Unlimited accessible archives

It's obvious, then, that I have unlimited access to my own personal database, meaning I'm no longer choked by Twitter's API limits. If I want to view my last 500 tweets, that's no problem. If I want to view a tweet from last year, no problem also. (Of course, I just started doing this, so I haven't accrued that many tweets yet in my own database.)

Still able to tweet when Twitter is down

Since Twitter is down quite a bit, being able to still update something during those times is nice. Sure, those updates won't be posted to Twitter right away, but I can easily send the update once Twitter is working again. The idea is to get the thought out of your head as it happens, rather than waiting for Twitter to be up, which in most cases you'll forget what you wanted to say.

Ability to scatter my updates

This is important for those who like to bombard their followers with constant updates. Perhaps you don't need to say it right this second. So, what I'll do is update my personal DB, and not share it on Twitter just yet. Then, during a down-time, when my updates have been slower, I can send the update to Twitter. This spaces out my updates and lets my followers breathe a bit, without being slammed by my incessant posts.

Just the surface

That's just scratching the surface of what can be done. Just about anything that helps me use Twitter or perform micro-updates better can be added to my application.

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