PatrickPadley.com

Friday Fun: Social Network Movies & Spoofs

ppadley — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:00:01 +0000

So apparently social media is so hip that people are making movies about it. For example coming in October “The Social Network” movie comes out. It’s about the start of Facebook. Where Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea which soon becomes the global social network Facebook and a revolution in communication. The film focuses on the tumultuous early years of Facebook, which was founded in 2004. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history… The film’s tag-line is “You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.”

I guess you know something is popular when there are spoofs of it. I found a few funny fake social network movies too. Enjoy the videos below, starting with real “The Social Network” trailer.

A fake Twitter movie!

Aren’t you glad you don’t use MySpace anymore.

How to Give the Perfect Handshake

ppadley — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:55:52 +0000

Who knew there was a scientific formula to giving a good handshake? I wonder if I’ve been doing it wrong all these years? Enjoy!

Innovation at its Best

ppadley — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:22:00 +0000

I don’t really need to say anything. Just watch and enjoy!

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Friday Fun: Woof, the New Way to Communicate

ppadley — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:15:47 +0000

Social media is changing how people communicate and its constantly reinventing itself. If you haven’t heard of the new social network innovation sweeping the nation, you need to jump on the social media band wagon and experience “Woof!” Enjoy. ~P

Memories of Guatemala

ppadley — Sun, 30 May 2010 16:37:09 +0000

When I was in college I went on a mission trip down to Guatemala. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We worked at the San Lucas Mission helping their reforestation project, build houses & sort coffee beans.

It was so great to know that I was using my spring break helping people. Since then, I sponsor a child down there named Maynor Thomas. (He’s a rockstar!) Anyway, I ran across this video online from CFCA, the organization that I sponsor my kid through. So I thought I’d share it with you, to encourage you to find something you are passionate about. Yes it is somewhat of a shameless plug, but it’s nice video too. Also if you ever want to have the best coffee in your life, you can buy it directly from the Guatemalan San Lucas Mission Here (click to buy Juan Ana coffee, you won’t regret it). Enjoy!

Friday Fun: Netflix Origami

ppadley — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:01:04 +0000

I don’t have NetFlix, but I love the idea of it. (especially now that instant watch is on the Wii) I guarantee that they’re gonna put Blockbuster out of business within the next few years. With all the worry about the environment these days I thought I’d share Netflix Origami. If you are a Netflix subscriber you can now reuse your tear off flaps! Or, as the Origami site says, “NetFlix tear-off flaps are sturdy, colorful, and perfect for origami and paper airplanes, so don’t just toss those wrappers [away].”

My favorites are the Starched Shirt and the Elegant Swan. Check out these pictures below:

How Not to Wreck Your Online Reputation

ppadley — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:45:11 +0000

The perfect way to shatter a first impression is having a potential employer come across photos from your frat days or pictures of you in your skivvies. “[About a year ago] the wife of Sir John Sawers, the new head of British spy agency MI6, caused a stir when she posted personal family information to Facebook, including an unflattering photo of the middle-aged bureaucrat wearing nothing but Speedo swim trunks while on vacation at the beach. It’s a silly, tabloid story—but it also teaches a serious lesson about social media security.”(Informationweek.com) | Link to BBC story

To make sure that you don’t make the same mistake, I thought I’d share a few quick tips about managing your reputation online.

Google yourself

I guarantee potential employers will. Usually this is the first thing I do when I come home from a conference after meeting someone new. Learn how Google associates your name. If you find that your name or business is hard to search for, hire someone to help with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This will help users find relevant information about you.

Don't Pop Your Reputation Balloon

Explore your privacy settings

Use the built-in privacy settings in Facebook. Check out this article on 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know. If there are any photos you would not want a CEO or your mother to see, un-tag yourself from the photo, or contact the person who posted it and ask them to take it down.

Monitor your reputation

Not everyone has time to continually monitor when their name or company is mentioned on the Internet. Use a free service like Google alerts to track Web results, news and blogs. Set up keywords and Google will e-mail you when your name or keywords are mentioned online. For more real time tracking, services such as Kurrently or socialmention* are great resources to see if you’re being talked about in today’s conversations on Twitter.

Join the conversation. Create content that’s positive and credible

Display positive content on your Web site. Start a professional blog and link to quality work or add customer testimonials. This will make you an authority figure in your industry.

Turn the negative into a positive by responding to criticism

If you find that you’re getting negative feedback, respond to it. Nothing is worse than when your reputation is slammed and you don’t respond timely. If you cannot respond in 24 hours tell users a specific time when they can expect a response.

Do it

The Web is continually changing. Keep up with trends by using an RSS reader. Join the online conversation and meet your customers where they are: online.

Friday Fun: Fonts That Look Like You

ppadley — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:47:57 +0000

Anyone who has ever used computers to design even the simplest project has a favorite font. I go through cycles. My current favorite is Myriad Pro. A lot of people like Helvetica, which if you’re a font guru you need to see the movie about the font titled “Helvetica”.

Many designers use different objects as examples when describing fonts to a client… some use people, animals or even places to describe a type face. Well look out graphic design world because Marty Huang is taking this to the next level! She created a software that turns your face into a font. Basically, it translates the curves in your face into a custom font. And it is so cool that I had to share it with you. Check it out here.

TYPEFACE from Mary Huang on Vimeo.

Paris in 26 Beautiful Gigapixels

ppadley — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:46:35 +0000

Last spring I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Paris, France with my best friend @ONeillElizabeth. Having visited, I can tell you that no picture can truly express the beauty of the city until I found this 26-gigapixel panorama of Paris. It’s not as amazing as visiting, but it’s as close as you can get.

Paris 26 Gigapixels is a stitching of 2,346 photos, which add up to a high-resolution panoramic view of Paris. When I say high-resolution, I mean it; the end result is a 26-gigapixel (354,159×75,570 px) interactive photo. You can use your mouse to scroll around anywhere on the photo you want and zoom in using the scroll wheel. There is even a short tour you can go on with little info tips that you can view to learn about the city’s best treasures.

On that same website you can read their blog and learn how they made this panorama beauty. There is also a button that toggles HD on and off. If you’re on a PC I highly recommend turning it on. You might also put your browser in full-screen mode too. Enjoy.

The Death of MySpace

ppadley — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:16:22 +0000

I stumbled upon this today by reading a tweet from @CandacePotter. It’s sad but true: MySpace is way past its prime. In fact, I deleted my account about a two months ago (and I’m still getting spammed, grr). It makes me wonder if other social networks are just fads. Facebook has done a great job of staying current, but who knows what the next “new thing” will be? Could it be a Facebook killer? Anyway, have a laugh below, and if for any reason you still have a MySpace account, you should get rid of it before it starts it starts smelling up the rest of your social media fridge.

[Via: Guerrilla Communication]