Open Letter to the NYS DEC

To: Joe Martens, Commissioner, NYS DEC

I watched Governor Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address last night online while most people were sleeping. For the first time in years, I felt inspired by the Governor's address. Plus, I had only six areas of contention with what he said, or didn't say.

It's hypocritical for the Governor to go bold on green in New York but to allow for a process as environmentally fraught with the potential for disaster as is fracking to be allowed to continue. All throughout the nation, micro-earthquakes (under a magnitude of 3.0) are being reported in places where they never had been recorded -- places where fracking has been initiated.

The potential for contaminating our drinking water, as well as the very ground upon which we live, is far too great. Haven't we learned our lessons from previous environmental disasters? Aren't there enough superfund sites already in existence?

We must band together, as Governor Cuomo stated last night, as New Yorkers, to enact a complete and total ban on fracking activities in our great State of New York, and work toward a federal and global ban of this potentially deadly activity. If we are going to be a Green State then we should go in at at 100%, not some half-assed attempt that allows companies to keep secret from the public the chemicals they are pumping into our ground under the guide of maintaining "trade secrets."

If a corporation is going to inject chemicals into the ground that have even a *remote* chance of seeping into our water supply or expanding into areas where we live, work, or obtain our food, then the public should have a right to know exactly what those chemicals are *and* have a means by which they can object to such corporation's environmentally-UNfriendly actions. A 500-foot perimeter ban around our reservoirs and acquifiers simply is not enough. Anyone who has owned an ant farm knows just what little it would take for this perimeter to be breached from its outside and have potentially deadly chemicals seeping into our water supplies.

The entirety of provisions contained within the proposed DEC regulations are unfathomable and unconscionable to me. We should protect and preserve the land we are borrowing from Mother Earth, not exploit it to the point where we will be forced to one day in the encroaching future leave this planet as a wasteland. Fracking should not be allowed in our great state, period. The so-called protections the DEC proposes to enact regulating any fracking activities are simply insufficient. For instance, where are there provisions for monitoring seepage? Must we find that our water is bad when we get a rash after showering, or discover that our kitchen tap water is flammable?

I urge the DEC to abandon any and all plans for fracking within the boundaries of our state, as the risks are far too great. The rewards will end up in the hands of the corporations, and we, the people, will be the ones paying the price.

Sincerely,
Peter C. Frank
Yonkers, New York

Sign the petition to ban fracking in New York State.

Seeking advertisers and contributors for a new, monthly LGBT publication for the NYC Metropolitan Region.

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Privacy Concerns, Buy-Outs, GroupME

Yesterday, Skype announced that it was buying out the mobile group-communications application, GroupMe. Skype is, itself, in the process of being bought out by Microsoft.

According to GroupMe's announcement on its web site, the company will remain intact in New York City and continue its focus on building its platform, with the addition of Skype's resources and estimated 175 million users around the globe. Also, we can probably expect to see GroupMe features incorporated  into Skype.

Since Facebook Messenger is, essentially, a skinned Skype application, we should then also expect to see GroupMe's features creep their way into FB Messenger, as well.

We all know that Facebook has chosen Microsoft's Bing search engine as its primary portal to the web over Google. Perhaps that was the spark that caused Google to launch Google+? Whatever the case may be, there are some serious privacy concerns that are being raised by this latest acquisition:

Will the MS/FB partnership (with Skype) have access to GroupMe's data and content? User profiles? User data?

What protections and guarantees will GroupMe be able to enforce to protect the privacy of its users with MS/FB breathing down its back, especially if a law enforcement operation becomes involved?

Will data from previous GroupMe conversations remain available after deletion, either in the cloud or on backup?

What sort of steps can be taken to protect users' data and ensure the integrity of such privacy policy promises?

Eight Guides to Google+

Have you received an invitation to join Google+ yet don't know where to begin? Here's a collection of different guides to help get you starting using Google's latest social network, which seems to be a raving success so far:


Mashable's Google+ Guide

The Huffington Post's "Your Google+ Guide: 15 Tips For Newbies"

SlashGear's A Google+ Guide from Top to Bottom

TechSource's Ultimate Guide to Using Google+

PCWorld's A Must-See How-to Guide to Google+ -- by users

BitShare's A Crowdsourced Guide to Using Google+

Social Media Examiner's How to Get Started with Google+, Your Complete Guide

20 of the best Google+ guides and tutorials to get freelancers up and running

Lessons in Social Media from Politicians

A few days ago, New York State Senator Roy McDonald had a few hundred "likes" on his Facebook page. As of the time of writing this post, he was fast approaching 7,000. He has gone from a little-known local politician to an International Sensation (and yes, international -- some of the comments on his page are from people in Canada, the UK, and Australia, to name a few of the countries where users who have liked his page and left supportive comments reside).

So what changed? What launched Senator McDonald to such Internet stardom? It can't have been his reversal on the issue that's brought so much attention to him, going from against to being in favor of marriage equality; NYS Senator Alesi became the first GOP Senator in New York to come out in support of marriage equality.

Quite frankly, we believe it was his frankness. The Huffington Post reports:

Reacting to pressure from the Conservative Party, anti-gay marriage groups, and religious leaders, McDonald gave a statement to the press which included a remarkable quote.

From The New York Daily News:

"You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn't black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing," McDonald, 64, told reporters.

"You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing.

"I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."

Was dropping the F-bomb the impetus behind propelling Senator McDonald to such fame? I doubt it. However, combined with his other statements, taken in context as a whole with the sentiment of his expression, and the level of transparency he has shown, people couldn't help but react in a positive way (for the most part). Frankness, openness, honesty, and transparency -- these four adjectives appear to describe the Senator's remarks in an abstract fashion, a way in which others can learn from and duplicate such success in the realm of social media.

After reading through the literally thousands of comments being left on the Senator's FB page, a few patterns emerge:

• 98% of the posts are supporting his decision.
• A vast majority of the posts commend his courage for speaking out.
• A super majority of the posts appreciate his frankness and honesty.
• The people posting to the Senator's page come from around the globe.

So what bit of social media wisdom can be learned from Senator McDonald's explosion and propulsion into Internet stardom?

Be open, honest, frank, and transparent, and people will respond. Such qualities are attractive to users in the social media sphere around the globe. To wit, the commenters

• express a profound gratitude to the Senator for restoring their faith in the political process,
• have never "liked" a politician's page before but were moved to do so by the Senator's remarks,
• are shocked, amazed, surprised, never thought they would ever, etc. like and/or side with a Republican before,
• appear to be equal parts straight supporters and gay/lesbian individuals/couples,
• have a greater tendency to be a Democrat but will support the Senator in whatever ways they can,
• come from all walks of life: young, old, gay, straight, married, single, Republican, Democrat, American, Canadian, Australian, European, African, Asian, etc.,
• express the sentiment that they wish Senator McDonald (with his straight-forward, transparent, no-nonsense gumption) represented them where they live,
• have invited the Senator to drinks and/or a meal if he should ever find himself in their area, and
• have suggested the Senator should run for President and expressed support for him (regardless of their political affiliation) should he choose to follow that path.

Indeed, a few moments ago the Senator changed the photograph he had on his FB page from one where he is shown with his family to a more politically-oriented one where he states that he is standing up for "EQUAL RIGHTS" and asks others to stand with him.

Let's hope that more politicians--and business and everyone else who uses social media in some fashion--will continue this trend and be more open, transparent, and honest with each other. The more transparent, open, and honest one is in social media, the more others can relate to and appreciate the content being produced, and the great the experience for everyone. This axiom exists not just in politics but across the spectrum.

So how transparent are you in your social media efforts?

* UPDATE 1pm: As this post was about to be published, Senator McDonald launched a "Stand With Roy" campaign, asking people to stand with him supporting equal rights by signing a petition: http://on.fb.me/l7xTWR A number of comments left on his Facebook page were asking how they could make a donation to his campaign to help in any re-election efforts he will face in the future. Within 24 hours, the Senator's team had responded and instituted a link on his page where donations could be made to the Senator's re-election campaign.

Senator McDonald also changed his profile photo to the above, asking people to "Stand with Roy" in his support of Equal Rights.

This was the profile photo Senator McDonald was showing on his Facebook page until early this afternoon.

** UPDATE 10pm: Politicians, take note. This is how to capitalize on a moment of Internet stardom: Senator McDonald just announced that, since starting his campaign a scant 10 hours ago, he's received over 100 donations to his re-election fund from people who are standing with him to support equal rights. His Facebook page likes are approaching 10,000 and there is no sign that momentum is slowing; rather, every indication is pointing to a building of momentum.

Senator McDonald has hopped on board 110%; he is more actively engaging the folks on his page and has created a re-election campaign that is capitalizing on the surge of support he's been receiving from around the globe. Throughout it all, he remains transparent in all of his efforts, and that's what people are really responding to.

*** UPDATE 20 June 2011: Late last night, NYS Senator McDonald crossed the 10,000 mark in the number of "likes" he has received on his Facebook page. That's nearly 9,000+ likes in the course of half a week. People continue to leave supportive messages to the Senator on his page, and are continuing to donate.

What's next for this straight-talking, no-nonsense state Senator? We've noticed that McDonald doesn't have a Twitter account (at least that we can find). It's time for him to get one and fill out his social media profile. It would be great to see him publicize some of the human stories behind the movement for equality and appeal to people from all walks of life, as NYC Mayor Bloomberg routinely does.

NYS Senator Roy McDonald is proof positive that being frank, open, and honest will garner a wealth of support in the social media sphere from people across every possible spectrum. Again, it's not just what he did but how he did it that's garnered the admiration of so many individuals across such a broad spectrum of backgrounds, beliefs, interests, etc.

Way to go, Senator McDonald! We salute you, and hope you enjoyed your Father's Day.

Attention Web Site Owners/Operators/Designers

This was posted by IGnatius T Foobar, sysop of Uncensored BBS. I thought it deserved repeating here:

Attention web site operators: you are a douchebag if  you do either of these things:

1. You accept logins with OpenID/Twitter/Fecesbook/AOL/Google but *still* require that I go through your site registration process.  These are intended to be single click sign in methods.  If I put in my OpenID and then see a huge site registration form to fill out, I close the browser window; you're not worth it.

 

2. If I try to close your site and see a pop-up saying "Are you sure you want to navigate away from this page?" it had better be because I'm logged into an application that would leave my data insecure if I didn't properly log out.  If you're selling something and I navigate away because I'm not interested, popping up a window that says "Wait!  This is a great offer and you don't want to miss it!" is the digital equivalent of blocking the exit with your fat sweaty self while I try to leave your store, and I'm going to digitally knock out your teeth with a fucking baseball bat if you don't get out of my way.

Thank you and make it a great day!

Questions about Conference Calling using Google Voice

Is it possible to initiate a conference call? For instance, say you're on the phone with someone and realize some other people should be in on the call. Is there a way to add them in without them having to call you?

Does conference calling work with Google Voice video calling (via Gmail or otherwise)?

Does conference calling work only on Android-based phones? I've never heard an option to add a person to the current call and I see in the vid that an Android-phone is being used.

Is conference calling supported under Google Voice from Gmail? I've never gotten call waiting when on a Google Voice call using Gmail and in fact, most of the time another call comes through and I'm on a phone where the person dialed my Google Voice number, the person was sent directly to voicemail and none of my other phones ever rang.

in reference to: Conference calling on the fly : Receiving Calls - Google Voice Help (view on Google Sidewiki)

Linkedin Brandhackers Feb09 Final

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Linkedin Brandhackers Feb09 Final

View more presentations from robbhecht. (tags: pr advertising)

Free Open Source Counterparts of Windows Software

I will be giving information on my personal favorites (which would generally mean BETTER) open source replacements. There are however other choices as well, so drop a line or two if our choices differ!

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