Why NO SOPA?

In case you missed it, somecanuckchick dot com went dark — along with thousands of others — on January 18, 2012 to protest SOPA and PIPA.

I believe that SOPA and PIPA would have reached beyond the borders of the United States of America and required internet service providers [ISPs] to take down any website [Canadian, or otherwise!] accused of posting, or linking to, copyrighted content.

I also believe that SOPA and PIPA would have had privacy implications for Canadians, with ISPs performing law enforcement functions that involve invading the privacy of Canadian internet users and Canadian website visitors.

SOPA and PIPA have since been shelved.

Canadian internet users, however, are still under threat from the Harper government, formerly known as the Government of Canada.

Remember Stephen Harper’s lawful access legislation?

Do you think any amount of protest (with a majority in the House of Commons and a majority in the Senate!) will be able to stop the Harper government from ramming through its lawful access legislation?

The same lawful access legislation which featured new information disclosure requirements for ISPs, mandated surveillance technology installation, the creation of new police powers, etc., etc., etc.

FYI the Harper government’s lawful access legislation has many of the same disturbing elements of SOPA and PIPA…

What can Canadians do while waiting for the Harper government to re-introduce its lawful access legislation?

Visit Michael Geist’s website: michaelgeist.ca

And, check out [Un]lawful Access!

I have also noted an increase in email over the last month, with respect to my cessation of twinterest, reflected in the removal of certain kinds of tweeple from my Twitter stream.

Without further ado, here are the top 5 reasons I will (likely) not follow you, or stop following you altogether on Twitter.

1. You have no Twitter avatar — When you sign up for Twitter, you are encouraged to upload an image that will represent you in the twitterverse. With it, your Twitter profile appears more personable, identifies you in your followers’ Twitter stream, and helps you to relate others.
2. You have no Twitter profile — Again, when you sign up for Twitter, you are encouraged to fill out details about yourself, specifically your location, link to your web site, and a little blurb about yourself. This helps others to ascertain how interacting with you could add to their overall Twitter experience.
3. You have less than 25 followers — And you are following hundreds upon hundreds or thousands upon thousands of Twitter users. In my opinion, Twitter is about quality, not quantity.
4. You have never updated your Twitter status — Or, you rarely update your Twitter status, or you have less than 25 Twitter status updates, or you update your Twitter status every 5 minutes.
5. Any and/or all of your Twitter activity has been, is now, and will continue to be about marketing a product and/or service to the twitterverse — A product and/or service which I will never ever want, much less need.

Basically, a combination of any and/or all of the above could/would/should result in a lack of twitterprocity on my part, or a #followfail. However, neither of these should reflect negatively on my twittequette.

Feel free to email somecanuckchick regarding twittequette, twitterprocity, etc.

Now, Twitter Giveth Back… Kinda.

Twitter claims to have learned a lot between yesterday and this afternoon.

Twitter now has a band aid solution in place to #fixreplies.

As of today, updates beginning with @username—that are not explicitly created by clicking on the reply icon—will be seen by everyone following that Twitter account.

Twitter also says that a new feature—which will give folks more control over what they see from the accounts they follow—is being designed.

In short, Twitter will not be reverting to the previous @replies system.

Twitter acknowledges that while Twitter users loved the feature, it was confusing and caused a sense of inconsistency.

What do you think of the band aid solution? Do you think Twitter can do better than the previous @replies system?

Let somecanuckchick know!

Initially, Twitter claimed that this update removed an undesirable and confusing option for the Twitter newbies and the Twitter illiterate who could not grasp the concept of those one-sided, fragmented conversations sent via @replies to Twitter users they were not following but still appeared in their respective timelines.

*cue the Twitterati, and the more seasoned Twitter users of the Twitosphere*

For those who have not been paying attention to the topics (#fixreplies, #twitterfail) currently trending, the Twitterverse was, is, and will continue to tweet their disappointment, disgust, and disparage regarding the changes to the @replies system.

Twitter has acknowledged the voluminous amount of [negative] feedback, and now claims that the changes to the @replies system had little to do with the Twitter newbies and the Twitter illiterate, but rather there were serious technical reasons why that @replies setting had to go.

Can you say back-paddling, ladies and gentlemen?

So, the Twitter response to #fixreplies is that they cannot… not yet.

What do you think of the #twitterfail, with respect to the @replies changes and subsequent controversy? Let somecanuckchick know!

Here are 20 common (and not-so-common!) twitterisms:

• twitterverse—Twitter+universe.
• twitosphere—Twitter+atmosphere.
• twaffic—Twitter+traffic.
• tweet—a post made to Twitter.
• tweeting—the act of posting to Twitter.
• retweet—a re-post of a tweet made by another to Twitter; often abbreviated to “RT”.
• retweeting—the act of re-posting a tweet made by another to Twitter.
• twoosh—the perfect tweet; a tweet which is exactly 140 characters in length, the character limit.
• mistweet—to tweet by mistake; often inappropriately, or incorrectly.
• tweepish—Twitter+sheepish.
• twitterrhea—the act of sending a large number of tweets over a short period of time.
• tweeple—Twitter+people.
• twitterness—contributions made to the twitosphere by tweeple.
• tweetup—Twitter+meetup.
• twitophant—one who repeatedly tweets, or retweets the [current] trending topics to gain more followers.
• twitterectomy—the act of culling the tweeple one follows.
• tweetaholic—someone who is addicted to Twitter.
• twitterfu—the measure of one’s level of skill using Twitter.
• tweetheart—Twitter+sweetheart.
• tweetard—Twitter+retard.

Of course, there are many more twitterisms…

Do you have a favourite twitterism, or new twitterism? Let somecanuckchick know!

Here are some ways to combat #spam, and deal with spammers:

• Check your Twitter notification settings.

  

  You can adjust your Twitter notification settings to view @replies from all, none, or just the people you are following.

  Visit Twitter Support for help understanding Twitter @reply settings.

• Report any and all suspected spammers to @spam and Twitter will investigate.

  Visit Twitter Support to find out what is considered spam and how Twitter is cracking down on #spam.

• Blocking someone instead of removing them is also an effective means of combatting #spam. By blocking them, you deny them the ability to follow or @reply.

  Visit Twitter Support to learn how to block someone from following/@replying.

• Do not delete your Twitter account and do not create a new Twitter account.

  This does not combat #spam, nor does it help Twitter deal with spammers effectively.

  Be part of the solution, not part of the problem!

  If you still have problems with #spam and/or spammers on Twitter—email support@twitter.com, or submit a request to the Twitter Support team.

Got something to say about Twam and/or Twammers? Let somecanuckchick know!

Here are somecanuckchick‘s Top 5:

• Editing
  Editing for content—specifically corrections, or updates, to information contained in a recent tweet—would improve the quality of tweets.
• Filters
  By filtering tweets, information is directed accordingly. Filters—based on #hashtags—would allow for the selection of information by followers, and for the control and direction of information to followers.
• Threads
  Discussions often take place via Twitter. Threads would help to track an entire conversation between 2+ people.
• Hyper Link Text
  Hyper link text would increase the quantity and the quality of information in tweets containing URLs. (It would also make tweets look a lot cleaner!)
• Multiple Avatars
  Different types of tweets warrant different kinds of avatars. Avatars—based on #hashtags—would represent tweets containing specific information.

Is there a Twitter Feature you would like to see? Let somecanuckchick know!

• twhirl—a desktop client for the Twitter microblogging platform.
• TinyURL—a web service that provides short aliases for redirection of long URLs.
• TwitterBar—a Firefox extension which allows one to post to Twitter from Firefox’s address bar.
• Dashblog—a Firefox extension which allows one to collect images, text, and other media from any web page and publish said media to Twitter.
• Tiny Paste—a Firefox extension similar to TinyURL but for text.
• Twitter Tools—a WordPress plugin that creates a complete integration between one’s WordPress weblog and one’s Twitter account.

Is there a Twitter Tool you cannot live without? Let somecanuckchick know!

:)

It used to be that I would peruse the internet… and a particular news article, upcoming event, or a piece of conversation would catch my eye and I would blog my thoughts and/or feelings on it.

It is not that I no longer peruse the internet… in fact, I am probably online more now than ever.

But there is something about blogging that has lost its luster, I guess.

What is the appeal of Microblogging—or Twitter, for that matter?

Maybe it is the blurbs of content on a range of subjects, rather than a literary composition on a single subject.

Maybe it is Twitter‘s 140-character limit. Typically, a blog entry is 150-300+ words, depending on style and content.

Maybe it is all the cool Twitter Tools and/or Add-Ons out there…

I am able to tweet what I am reading directly from address bar (TwitterBar), or my desktop (twhirl), or what I am listening to (FoxyTunes), etc. with just a few keystrokes and a mouse click.

I know there are WordPress plugins, like Twitter Tools, Twitter Updater, etc.—but I do not know if I am ready for the complete integration of my weblog and my Twitter account… yet.

The Commenter?

The Moderator?

Let somecanuckchick know what you think!

I wonder why it is that I find myself spending more and more time over at Twitter…

Anyone else find this to be a concern? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Anyone else use LoudTwitter?

somecanuckchick dot com has been syndicated to LiveJournal via the miracle of RSS.

If you have an account at LiveJournal, feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed.

• Flickr
• Last.fm
• YouTube

P.S. somecanuckchick has also discovered Twitter.

I should be updating regularly, but I lack the ambition, as well as the substance worthy of the readers of somecanuckchick dot com.

I am becoming more and more aware of all things economic, politic, and societal—living a stone’s throw from Parliament Hill has a lot to do with this, I’m sure.

I should be indexing the archives—but there is so much content.

I am leaning towards compiling an anthology from the previous incarnations of somecanuckchick dot com. Maybe that would be a better way of clipping and showcasing the good, the great, and the grand…

More on all this and more when I am less distracted by sunny Summer weather—I promise!

• still in the process of indexing the archives
• tweaking WordPress theme CSS
• enjoying warm Summer weather

Over the last 10 years, somecanuckchick dot com has evolved from a basic web page, to a webcam web site, to a fully syndicated weblog.

At the time of this writing, somecanuckchick dot com enjoys more than 1500 unique visitors each month!

I am sure that the new — and 90% Canadian content — will keep those loyal visitors coming back!

And — in the coming weeks — I hope to have the archives from the previous incarnations of somecanuckchick dot com.

I look forward to the next 10 years and beyond!

I plan to make the archives available as follows:

• articles
• ebooks
• editorials
• essays
• tutorials

Please note that formats will vary, i.e. PDF.

:D SCC

That’s right, after a hiatus spanning much of 2008 somecanuckchick dot com contains current content again!

I am still in the process of indexing the archives…

10+ years is a lot to index—especially with only 3 years benefiting from the beauty of tags.

That said, I see the archives organized as follows:

• articles
• ebooks
• editorials
• essays
• tutorials

Formats will—of course—vary, i.e. PDF.