Meghan McInverny Wilker

Back That Thing On Up

Posted on January 26, 2009

This past Thursday, I gingerly celebrated what I hope is the end of weeks and weeks of laptop problems. The point of this post is so important, that I’m going to give you the punch line before I finish the setup: BACK UP YOUR DATA.

Trust me on this one. Last year, one of the smartest people I know (a developer, no less) had a computer meltdown and lost all of his cherished digital photographs. He spent hundreds of dollars on data recovery. This same person guiltily admitted to me a few weeks ago that, despite that experience, he’s still not backing up his data. Sometimes, smart people can be so dumb.

Hey, it’s a new year (I can still say that as long as it’s January, right?), and a couple of weeks ago I heard a local radio personality vow that 2009 would be the year that she became more tech-savvy. Obviously, I fully support that resolution, and learning how to back up your data is a fantastic place to begin. Because if your machine self-destructs (or is shoved into the next life by a jam-covered toddler or a cup of coffee), all the tech-savviness in the world can’t save you.

Here’s what happened to me: due to some problems with my wireless connection I had to wipe out everything on my machine and reinstall the operating system (new Geek Girls: this is known also as the OS. On my Mac, that’s OSX. If you’re on a PC it’s Windows Vista or another version of Windows. For the super geektastic it might be some version of Linux, like Ubuntu.). I actually had to erase and install the OS and restore my data three times. Four if you include Thursday, when I finally gave up, bought a new machine and transferred all my data over.

Lucky for me, I’ve been doing backups of my data almost daily since November. I have to credit Apple here for an application called Time Machine which makes it crazy easy to backup your stuff. All I had to do was buy an external hard drive (I went with a cute red Western Digital Passport), and every time I connect it to my laptop, my machine backs itself up. It alerts me if I forget to plug it in for a long period of time, warning me that “Time Machine hasn’t backed up in X days.” But, now that I’m in the habit, I plug in the external drive daily. It’s usually plugged in when I’m at home, and often at work as well (I just toss it in my laptop bag when I leave the house).

But, even if you’re not on a Mac there’s really no excuse. There are lots of online backup services out there. (Of course, you take a risk in that if the company you’re backing up with goes out of business, there goes your data. On the other hand, it sure is handy to back up your data somewhere far away so that if your house burns down your data is far away and safe. Just sign up for a well-known service and not anything named Billy Bob’s Backups or I CAN HAZ BACKUPS PLZ and you should be fine.)

The bottom line is this: think for a moment about how much you rely on your computer every day. Think about how much of your life might be on there. If your first reaction is, “Oh, I don’t have anything really important on there,” I want you to try one thing before I’ll believe you: turn off the computer right now and put it in a closet. Go for one week without using it. You can use other computers to access web sites or email, but you can’t use your main computer. After a week, tell me that you don’t have anything really important on there and I’ll believe you.

Honestly, I’ve felt completely lost without my stuff over the past few weeks. At work, I was unfocused because all my To Do lists are on my laptop. I didn’t know what personal errands I needed to run (also a list on my laptop), and don’t even get me started on all of the passwords I had to try and remember when I was on a loaner machine trying to visit all my usual online haunts.

So, if you do have anything really important on there (as most of us do), I’ll say it again: BACK UP YOUR DATA. It’s as easy as 1-2-3. Actually, wait, it’s as easy as 1-2:

1. Find a web site and start remote backups ASAP. I’ve heard great things from many sources about Mozy. They even have a free personal account (up to 2GB). If you need more, you can get a subscription for less than $5 a month. Not bad. You can also check out this excellent PC Magazine article listing the best online backup services.

2. If using an online service makes you uneasy, start shopping for an external hard drive and back up to that drive regularly (but humor me and use an online service until you buy your drive and get everything set up).

If you’re on a Mac, the whole thing is dead simple with Time Machine and there’s no excuse for not using it. As soon as you plug the drive in, your machine will say something like, “Hey, I see you have a drive connected, can I please do some backups for you?”

If you’re on a PC, check out this excellent article from LifeHacker on how to automatically back up your junk.

Two steps. You can handle that. If you do only one geeky thing this year, do this one. You’ll thank me someday when there’s jam oozing out of your keyboard.

The Truth About Twitter

Posted on January 21, 2009

Over the past year, Twitter seems to have hit its tipping point and truly entered popular consciousness. (@idpkbrian called it when he saw a reference to Twitter in a Wal-Mart ad in a movie theatre this summer.)

Just to be contrarian, I think it’s time I shared my Twitter peeves. Let the Twitter scroogin’ begin!

Twitter != IM
If more than half your tweets start with @, you might want to consider downloading an instant messaging client. Of course, if all those @ replies are interesting to your followers, more power to you. But, more often than not, @ replies consist of stuff like, “@ so-and-so, what are you doing tonight? I’m washing my hair!”

Know what I say to that? #annoying! Pick up the phone, send an email or use instant messenger.

Watch the re-tweets, Mister.
RT, or re-tweeting, is repeating what someone else said because you thought it was funny or interesting. That’s fine, but if more than half your tweets are RTs, what the hell are you doing? Add something interesting to the conversation, or don’t talk. (This from the girl who tweets pictures of her kid. Who do I think I am?)

Twitter is also not RSS
If all that you or your company are tweeting about is your latest blog post, please stop. If we want to read your blog, we’ll subscribe to your RSS feed. (If you sprinkle your blog notices among other interesting tweets, no worries.)

On a related note, if all you’re doing is @replying to people who mention you or your competitor, please stop. You’re killing me.

Quantity vs. Quality
This goes for tweets and followers alike. If you’ve been on Twitter for six months and you have thousands of tweets, you are either:
a) incredibly interesting and knowledgable
b) self-obsessed
c) in need of an IM client (see: Twitter != IM)

The answer is most likely b or c. Sorry.

Low or No-Value Tweets
When it comes to followers, I’m glad you have X-hundred or thousand. Good for you! Seriously, good for you. But, you don’t have to tweet every time another 5 people start following you. “I have 100 followers!” “I have 110 followers!” gets old very fast. As someone who’s following you, I obviously think you have something to say. Rattling off your number of followers is not that interesting. If I want to see how many followers you have, I can look at your profile anytime I want. On a related note, it’s really not necessary to publicly thank all your followers.

I am Not a Snob.
I saw a video last month decrying Twitter “snobbery.” The basic message was that if you have a ton of followers and don’t follow all of them back, you’re not social media, you’re solo media.

Um, no. I certainly don’t expect every blog that I read to also read my blog. Similarly, I don’t expect everyone I follow on Twitter to follow me back. I’m busy, they’re busy, we’re all busy, and keeping up with 2,000 tweeters may not be high on my list, or theirs. There are certainly people with thousands of Followers and Followees, and God bless them (see: @stephenfry). But, I have a full-time job, a blog, a husband, a house and two kids. I use Twitter to follow some friends and some industry people that I think are interesting. That’s it. And it doesn’t make me a snob, it just means I’m smart enough to know my own limits.

The Elite
It bugged me when bloggers did it years ago and it bugs me now that tweeters are doing it: lists of who is “elite” based on number of followers or number of tweets or other wacky methods. What bugs me is the “I’m more popluar than you” mentality that smacks of junior high school. The beauty of where technology is right now (Web 2.0, if you will) is that we all have a voice. Not everyone can start a radio or TV station, or start printing a newspaper, but anyone can set up a Twitter account, a web site, a blog, or a Facebook page — and if they have something interesting to say, they’ll find an audience.

If anyone has this kind of right, it seems like Mr. Tweet does. He looks at it in terms of influence and relevance, which seems right on the mark. Trying to calculate who is elite based on followers or tweets just seems silly to me. I’ve seen people who have made thousands of low-value tweets. That ain’t elite. Where Mr. Tweet gets it right is in understanding that it’s in the eye of the follower: what’s relevant to me may not be relevant to someone else. This is not high school. There is no “in crowd.”

The Echo Chamber
Just like in real life, there are clusters of Twitter users. Many of us follow many of the same people. The result is that I might get the same article tweeted 5 times in 5 minutes. (related: my RT gripe). @jongordon noted a few weeks ago that it seemed like Twitter was made up of 90% PR people and “social media experts” and sometimes, it sure seems like he’s right.

Everyone was all a-buzz about the Motrin Moms a couple of months ago, but only ONE DAY after the whole thing happened there were so many tweets ABOUT it that it was impossible to find the tweets that actually WERE it. Echo….echo…echo…

Ego-Tweeting
I got a lot of Amens this week when I tweeted, “the more people use twitter, the more it becomes a place for ego-tripping and butt-kissing. i’m ready for that to stop now.”

Here’s what I’m talking about: the ego-tweet is the standard annoying bragadocious comment. This was brilliantly parodied by @lolife who said, “Having lunch with @god, then a meeting with @obama and then drinks with @bono before my date with @superhotchick.” Ego-tweets are all a variation on that theme. #snore

The butt-kiss tweet is usually a reaction. It goes something like this: powerful client-type person tweets about their business. The bajillion vendor-type people who follow this person go into a tweeting frenzy, each one trying to prove their smarts and derring-do. “Why yes, @powerfulclient-typeperson, we are incredibly strategic and smart!” And then we’re all subjected to the equivalent of a group capabilities presentation in 140 character bites. Which makes me, and all the kittens in the world, weep.

The Circle of Life
Don’t get me wrong, I love Twitter. It’s changed my life, cleared up my acne and I have lost 15 pounds since November. It’s just going through an interesting phase.

If you think about the arc that blogs have followed, it’s easy to draw parallels: began life as geek-only tool, gained popularity, users started defining crietria which make them “elite” to set them apart from all the newcomers, companies thought they were a golden ticket, blog ad networks developed and PR companies actively wooed bloggers, some bloggers were outed as shills and some managed to make a living at it, “real” journalists bristled but grudgingly started accepting blogs, blogs pronounced dead.

This same arc applies to Twitter. When I joined almost two years ago, there weren’t a whole lot of other people tweeting. Now that it’s hit the mass consciousness, the elite lists have started popping up, more and more companies are tweeting (and just like with blogs, a few are getting it right and the rest don’t know what to do), Twitter ad services have started popping up and will soon start to infiltrate. When I was watching CNN last month they were scrolling tweets across the bottom of the screen which means that sometime later this year, you can expect the “Twitter is Dead” headline to hit Wired.

Of course, blogs aren’t really dead — they’re just not the Next Best Thing anymore. Now, that mantle is carried by Twitter. We’ll see how long it lasts. In the meantime, happy tweeting. Follows or rotten tomatoes can be directed @irishgirl.

[cross-posted on the MIMA blog]

Note to new Geek Girls: if you need to know more about what Twitter is, you can check out my earlier post. There’s no shame in not knowing, but there’s no excuse for not learning!

Digg the Delicious RSS

Posted on January 11, 2009

Geeky Reader Madge from Minneapolis asked, “RSS. Digg. Delicious. What the heck do they all mean and how do I use them?” Great question, mom! I mean…um…Madge.

Let’s digg in!

RSS

I did a three-part series on RSS a couple of months ago, which you can read here, here and here. In a nutshell, RSS is a way for sites to syndicate their content, and for readers to subscribe to it. Common Craft did a fantastic short video explaining it all here:

Digg

Digg allows people to share stuff they think is cool. The more people “digg” something (an article, video, or image), the higher it rises in the rankings. For example, here is a list of the most popular articles on Digg over the past 24 hours. On the left, you can see how many diggs each article has. (Getting “dugg” can result in a lot of traffic to an article, sometimes to the point that the site is overwhelmed with traffic and either goes down, or becomes very sluggish. This is sometimes called the “Digg effect.”)

Anyone with a Digg account can submit something they think is cool (like, say, a Geek Girls Guide article). If other Digg users see it and also like it, they “digg” it. Users also police the content by using “bury” on duplicate, spam, or off-topic items. And, it just wouldn’t be Web 2.0 if they didn’t allow you to build a “network” would it? So, you can connect to friends on Digg to share diggs with each other. Or…just install the Digg Facebook app.

Digg has a good explanation on their site as well.

Delicious

Delicious is a social bookmarking service. Wha? Okay…do you know about bookmarks in your web browser? If you don’t, read this paragraph. If you do, skip to the second paragraph. Bookmarks are a way to create a shortcuts to sites you really like. Every web browser has this (some may refer to bookmarks as “Favorites” but it’s the same thing). So, if you visit CNN every morning, you can create a Bookmark and click on it instead of typing “www.cnn.com” into the address bar every time. (Or, you could just subscribe to the RSS feed, right?!)

Delicious stores your bookmarks online. So, whether I’m on my computer, my mom’s computer, or the library computer, I can log in to Delicious to see all my favorite sites. In addition, I can “tag” the sites with keywords to keep things organized.

Here’s a snapshot of my Delicious account:

To the left is the date I created the bookmark, and the title. To the right is the number of other Delicious users that have bookmarked that page and below that, my tags. You can see that no one else has bookmarked Ghost Lake Lodge, and that I tagged it with “resort.” I can then click on the resort tag to see all Bookmarks that I tagged with “resort.” It’s a great way to keep track of your bookmarks and categorize them easily. As an example, here are all the sites I’ve tagged with “retro.”

That’s the bookmarking side. The “social” side is that you have access to other people’s bookmarks as well. So, if you click on the box that shows you how many other people bookmarked a site, you’ll see a list of who they are and other tags they used for the site. You can click on their username to see a list of all their bookmarks and tags. In addition, you can create a “network” on Delicous. (Personally, I have more than enough social networks in my life right now, but it’s there if you want it.)

To me, the most valuable part of Delicious is the ability to bookmark stuff and have it available to me in any browser, on any machine. The “social” aspects are nice, but I don’t have a lot time for them. But, it can be a good way to discover new sites. Like, here’s a random Delicious user’s list of “retro” links — I’ve already found a bunch of great sites I didn’t know about!

As far as the “networking” goes, a better idea is probably to download the Delicous Facebook app, which publishes your Delicious bookmarks to your FB profile.

And, of course, those awesome dudes at Common Craft have explained this as well!

So, there you go. RSS, Digg, and Delicious explained. Now get out there and play.

A Splash Page for Good

Posted on December 23, 2008

Geeks for Good

From now until January 2, the Geek Girls are donating our homepage to a good cause. What good cause? You decide. We’re each donating to non-profits that are close to our hearts and just want to encourage others to consider donating time or money as well. Lots of people are going through hard times, so during this time when we’re all giving and receiving, remember to also give to those that are in need. If nothing else, hug your loved ones extra-tight and be thankful for what you have.

Pay it Forward

Consider making donations to non-profits you are interested in. Here are a few we like, but there are a bajillion other worthy causes out there.

Give 5 a campaign by the United Way to get small donations to make a big impact all over Minnesota.
The Saint Paul Foundation is a well-respected Minnesota non-profit that focuses on Minnesota and the Twin Cities. [full disclosure: the foundation is a client of Clockwork, our employer]
MinnPost a non-profit dedicated to providing high-quality journalism focused on Minnesota issues. [full disclosure: MinnPost is a client of Clockwork, too]
Intermedia Arts a Minneapolis arts and literary non-profit that’s in real trouble right now. Help ’em out if you can.

Splash Your Own Page

Get the code at Clockwork‘s website.

Happy Holidays. We look forward to geeking out with you in 2009.

Geek Love

Posted on December 16, 2008

It was only a matter of time.

Yep, we here at Geek Girls headquarters have started getting inquiries from boys in search of a geek girl of their very own.

Ken from Indianapolis asked, “I’m a single 24 year old geeky guy…Where can I go to meet geek girls?!” and Dan from Brazil said, “…here in Brazil there aren’t cool chicks that get geeky, love games, [and] know bout technology…Do you have any idea of where we could look for those? Time is passing and we are really getting sad and lonely cause the non-geeks don’t fill in the blanks.”

Yes, Ken and Dan, I agree. There is nothing quite as awesome as a Geek Girl. As for where to meet them, that’s a bit tougher to answer.

Where the Geeks Are

Here’s my two cents: the best place to meet a truly geeky girl is probably, well…online. For example, my husband and I found each other via the perfect storm of geekery. One night, while I was bonding with my laptop in my single-girl studio apartment, Nancy sent me an IM with a link to a blog called the Kingdom of Squirrels written by a guy named Jeremy. “Hey,” she typed, “you should date this guy.” I checked out the blog, thought the guy looked cool, but suspected that he was so cool that he was either:
a) gay
b) taken
c) psychologically unfit
d) all of the above

By coincidence, Jeremy stumbled across my now-dead blog a few weeks later (he thinks via a directory of MN bloggers — this was in 2002 when there were far fewer blogs and before they were proclaimed dead) and left me a comment. I saw it, clicked over to his website and realized I had been there a few months before. We exchanged blog comments and emails for a couple of months, we saw each other in person for the first time when he came to see me at a poetry slam, we had our first real date a month later, and the rest is history. There was also a mix tape involved (well, technically a mix CD, but the effect was the same).

Finding the Elusive Female Geek

Obviously, you can find a geek girl anywhere you’d find any other kind of girl, but it might be tricky to figure out if she’s a geek. Sidling up to a girl at happy hour and asking if she knows CSS from RSS might not work so well. In my experience, what works best is to just put yourself out there, either via a blog where you write about whatever you are passionate about or an expert on, via Twitter, and on social networks like Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, or whatever is most popular in your country or age/interest group.

Next, cruise around and see who’s interesting. Let it happen naturally by commenting on blogs that interest you, or finding opportunities (like Meetups) to mingle with other geeks in meatspace. Whatever you do, don’t be creepy. Sending an IM or direct tweet like “Hey, baby let’s chat…” is sooo not going to work. It’s just like real life: you’ll encounter a lot of people, but you’ll only make a real connection with a few. Don’t try to force it, or you’ll come off all wrong and you’ll scare the girly geeks away. Be cool, man. Be cool.

What worked for Jeremy and I is that — first and foremost — we found each other to be interesting; technology just facilitated our relationship. Had it not been for the Internet, AIM and Movable Type, we might have never met (in fact, I probably should have invited Tim Berners-Lee and the Trotts to our wedding), but our relationship is based on who we are, not on the technology itself. It’s a bit of a happy coincidence that we are both geeks, but your odds of meeting a geek girl are higher online than they are IRL. So, just put yourself out there. See what happens.

That’s that. Don’t get the wrong idea, guys — I’m not turning this into a dating column. But, you asked and I’m here for you.

Good luck.

What Do I Know? by Kristi McKinney

Posted on December 13, 2008

The following post was submitted by Kristi McKinney, who provides her perspective on being a young, geeky working woman. We love having guest Geek Girls contribute their thoughts. If you’re interested in writing an article for us, please let us know!

As society’s use of — and affinity for — technology has grown, so too has the idea of who uses, manages, and can fix our vast array of gadgets. This field, hobby, and obsession is undoubtedly dominated by men. But what about the women who do make technology their passion, their obsession, and their careers?

I can tell you that I’ve had to shrug cutely and pretend I can’t fix a problem many more times than I’ve been permitted to fix one. As a woman, I’m often brushed aside when anything technical comes up. Why? Because the stereotype of a computer geek is that they’re tall skinny guys with thick glasses, they’re antisocial and they own one of those USB drink coolers. They love WOW, Nethack, and cheese doodles. But just as that stereotype does not fit all male geeks, the gender of the stereotype is also wrong.

I’m a woman and a geek; those are not mutually exclusive. I actually know things about computers and technology. Break out your defibrillator, a new era of geeks is upon us. We’re women and we do know what we’re talking about. For some of us, our primary occupation has nothing to do with our tech obsessions, while others are closing the gender gap and becoming wonderfully geeky professionals. I was a grad student until not too long ago. I now write web content. Though my job doesn’t require me to be coding or even anything very technical, I end up doing it anyway for a variety of reasons, but not easily. I’m met with skepticism when I announce I can fix the problem at hand.

So what does this mean for us geeky girls? It means we’re endlessly doubted and the geeky tech guys that work at our offices think we’re marginal at best. We face the same challenges that women in the workplace have always faced, but with a little extra ammo.

What should we do? Persist. The next time you can fix something, but no one wants to listen to you, try harder. Make your knowledge known and never be ashamed of it. Don’t worry that you don’t know everything. Be confident and believe in yourself; if you do, others will start to believe in you too.

Kristi McKinney, Geek

Kristi McKinney currently works at Forte, LLC, writing and managing MyWayForward.com. She recently received her MA in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota where she studied Russian journalism. Kristi has had many geeky odd jobs over the years, including helping to write content and build web pages for the University of Minnesota Cancer Center. Kristi received her BA in Communication and English with a minor in Russian from the University of North Dakota.

Book Review: How to be a Geek Goddess

Posted on December 12, 2008

My co-worker (and Men’s Auxiliary Member), Ben, tipped me off a few weeks ago that there was a book being published by No Starch Press (one of his favorite resources for geek books) called How to be a Geek Goddess. I contacted the publisher and they were kind enough to put me in touch with the author, Christina Tynan-Wood (@xtyan), and send me a copy of the book.

I’m currently on vacation in the Coachella Valley (ah, sunshine feels good on my pale Minnesota skin!) and, while on the three-hour flight and lounging in the desert, have been perusing the book. My verdict? Excellent!

I’d highly recommend this book as a gift this holiday season, either to yourself or to a woman in your life who’s looking for a handy desk reference on all things geek. Tynan-Wood gives simple, but not condescending, instructions on everything from purchasing to outfitting your computer and everything that goes along with it.

In a very funny prologue, Tynan-Wood describes her husband as a “pompous ass” — a rather typical male tech-know-it-all. I laughed out loud at this, because I read it after I caught my husband paging through the book, rolling his eyes at her diagram of a mouse (right click, left click, scrollbar). Yeah. I married a pompous ass, too (and I mean that in a really loving way, honey!).

So, yes. The book contains things as simple as a diagram of a mouse, but you know what? Some people need that. And — despite Mr. Wilker’s eye-rolling — there’s no shame in that. Knowledge is power, and this book doles out tech knowledge from A to Z. What I like about the book is how comprehensive it is — even I, a self-described Geek Girl, learned a thing or two. Those who are just beginning to dip their toes into Interweb waters will learn even more, but won’t find it overwhelming.

While the book is structured in chapters, one certainly doesn’t need to read it cover-to-cover for it to make sense, or be a valuable resource. It would serve as a great desk reference for any woman aspiring to girly geekdom. Skip to Chapter 7 to learn how to set up a wireless network at your house, Chapter 9 for handy info on how to keep your kids safe online, or start at Chapter 1 if you need a guide on how to buy yourself a new computer. She really covers all the bases, and does so with good humor.

She also touches on what I think is an important point for women when it comes to embracing (or not embracing) technology. And this also came up in our Geek Out Room at the MIMA Summit this year. It’s relevance. Namely, that it’s okay to not be interested in technology for technology’s sake. For many women, technology is only interesting to the point that it’s relevant to one’s life. As in, how can this web application or gadget make my busy, insane life easier? Tynan-Wood does a great job illustrating how the technologies she describes can be applied to one’s life.

There are a few too many shoe-shopping references for my tastes, but I’m willing to admit that I’m a female anomaly in my dislike of shopping (shoe or otherwise) and her metaphors often do make sense. Software really can be considered an accessory in my world! All-in-all, the book is a fantastic tech bible for women: witty, informative and comprehensive.

The author was kind enough to agree to an interview with me; now that I’ve read the book, I’ll be contacting her. But before I do, do you have any questions you’d like me to ask? Either post to comments, use our Ask the Geeks form, or email me at meghan [at] geekgirlsguide [dot] com.

You can check out the Christina Tynan-Woods’ Geek Girlfriends blog here.

Geek Chic of the Week: Online Invitations

Posted on December 10, 2008

With the holiday party season in full swing, it seems appropriate to talk about online invitation services.

If you’ve never used an online invitation web site, you’re missing out. Online invitations make it way easier to plan parties and manage RSVPs. Googling “online invitations” will result in a number of matches, the most well-known and widely-used being Evite.

I’ve been a loyal Evite user since 1999. Yeah, you heard right — next year, Evite and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary. I did have a one-event stand with newcomer (and trendy vowel-dropper) Socializr, but the interface was so ugly I couldn’t go back. But, for my election party this year, I tried something new: Planypus.

Evite Overview

But, wait — before I get ahead of myself let’s start with the briefest of overviews on Evite for those who don’t know. Using Evite, you can create an online inivitation using one of their templates, or create your own by uploading images, selecting colors, etc. (though, fair warning: creating your own Evite can be very frustrating. It took me several tries and some lost data to get it right. And I’m a freaking geek girl!) Enter in the email addresses of your friends, and you’re done. As an organizer, you can tell who has viewed the invite and keep track of the RSVPs. You can choose to be notified when people RSVP, or just check the site. They used to also allow you to ask guests to bring things, or to poll your guests, but those features are no longer available.

But, there are a few downsides. The first is ads, ads and more ads. The site is crammed so full of ads that it drowns out the interface. I’ve been using the site for years and I still find myself pausing to find the big green “Create An Invitation” button (I think it’s because I’ve trained myself to ignore both side columns, expecting to see ads there.)

Another downer? Some companies have restricted access to Evite, so invites sometimes get missed by your friends if you’re using their work address. And, users have to sign up on the site in order to RSVP. Bleh.

But, like I said — it’s the most well-known and it gets the job done. If you know exactly what you want to do (place, time, etc.), it’s a fine way to manage a gathering. But, what if you don’t know what the plans are yet? What if you’re organizing a ski trip for 14 friends, or a girls’ night out and need to collaborate on date, time, location and other details among a group? Enter Planypus.

Planypus

Their tagline sums it up pretty well, “The wiki for your social life.” For those who don’t know (and there’s no shame in not knowing!), a wiki is a web page that anyone can edit. The best known example of this is Wikipedia; once you create a wikipedia account, you can edit any wikipedia page. Just apply that thinking to a social event. Think of the number of emails that get sent back and forth even when trying to plan a simple dinner party. (Just figuring out what night will work for everyone has sometimes taken me and my friends 15-20 emails.)

One of the creators of Planypus (@smazo) was in Minneapolis a few weeks ago and we met up to talk about Planypus. I was fresh off a good experience with using the site to plan my Election Night Party and was excited to learn more about Planypus. I initially mistook it for another simple online invitation service — I didn’t totally grok the wiki aspect of it until after Stan and I talked. But, the idea is really brilliant:

With Planypus, everyone can contribute and vote on date, time, location. Anyone can edit what they call the “Planspace” — which is where you can outline the details of your plans. And guests can make comments, or mark their comments as “announcements” that are emailed to everyone.

The first question anyone asks when they hear about a wiki concept is, “So, does that mean anyone could go in and just delete everything or put in a bunch of nonsense?” Technically, yes. I’ll write another article someday about the self-policing that goes on in online communities like wikis but for now I’ll just say that in this case it’s even more unlikely anyone would sabotage your invite. Think about it: if everyone that’s invited knows each other in some way, your friends aren’t going to deface or delete data, because their username will be displayed as the culprit.

3 Reasons to Try It

Planypus isad-free. As a company, Planypus has no plans to use ads on the site. Their business model is to charge businesses to use the Planypus Platform on their sites, but keep it free (and ad-free) for individuals.
It’s very easy to use. I challenge you to try to get confused while using it. It’s really clear what to do and you can get an event set up in under a minute.
Design-wise, Planypus is to Evite what Facebook is to MySpace: less customizable, but way easier on the eyes. If you really want a design with a crazy, sparkly background or custom color palette, you’re not going to be happy. You can upload a photo to the Planspace, though. And who could resist the cute little Planypus platypus?!

It’s a little unfair to compare the two, because as I learned more about Planypus they don’t seem to me to be truly direct competitors. You can certainly use Planypus in the same way you use Evite (for an event that doesn’t require any collaboration or group planning — as I did with my Election Night Party) but it really shines when you need to collaborate. Evite is a one-to-many way to communicate an event, while Planypus is a collaboration tool. Use the right tool for your job, I say.

I set up two test invitations so you can compare the two yourself. Check out my Geek Girls Evite and my Geek Girls Planypus. Dig around and let me know what you think! (And, while you’re doing all this party planning check out our friends the Cocktail Chicks. They’ll give you lots of advice on how to do it up right, though I’m sure they’d find online invitations tres gauche.)

Amazon Giveth, and Taketh Away

Posted on December 1, 2008

Last month, in my love letter to Amazon, I mentioned that they had given me $1 back on a movie pre-order. They loved me up again a week later by giving me $2 back for a Wall-E pre-order.

And then, last week, they snatched one of those dollars right back.

That’s right. I accidentally ordered the I Can Has Cheezburger book (thinking it was a page-a-day calendar and would make a good stocking stuffer for a certain someone I know) and when I shipped it back, Amazon deducted the .99 shipping fee from my refund. Sure, it’s fair and all, but it got me thinking about how companies like Zappos have figured out that if they allow two-way free shipping (and actually let you talk to a person when you want to) they can inspire customer love and devotion. I’ve experienced the Zappos love myself; when I ordered a couple of pairs of shoes last May, they sent me an email to tell me that they upgraded my shipping. Just because.

Don’t worry, Amazon. I still love you. But, Zappos does have an incredible service model. They’ve managed to tap into the power of technology (Order shoes online, anytime. Read customer reviews and ratings. Follow their CEO on Twitter. Heck, follow any of their employees on Twitter.) AND the power of great customer service. Most web-based businesses have viewed the web as a way to do business without having to deal with actual people. My personal favorite: when a web site makes it damn near impossible to find a phone number, then when you call the number an automated voice condescendingly reminds you that you could be using the web site to get an answer to your question. Nice! Zappos smartly allows customers access to a real, live person when they need it. And sometimes, you do.

So, as we near the end of the year and start to think about goals for 2009, keep considering how you can leverage technology to help your business or your self. But also consider where a human touch, instead of technology, may be a more appropriate choice.

If I was with you right now, I’d hug you. Just for reading this.

Shop Smarter

Posted on November 24, 2008

One of my pet peeves about tech sites targeted to women is that, at some point, they start posting lots of stuff about shopping. I guess it rubs me the wrong way because I think to myself, “C’mon. There’s lots more that we do — or should do — online than just shopping.”

You know what else? I hate shopping. I hate digging through racks to find my size, I hate trying stuff on, and I hate standing in line. I also hate crowds. (I’m a real charmer, aren’t I?) But, I love technology, I adore efficiency, I like a bargain, and when I venture out in public I like not looking like a hobo. Luckily, my sister recently sent me a site that has made my shopping life easier.

You know what that means, right? Yeah. I’m about to write about shopping.

The site is Shop It To Me and the concept is simple: sign up on the site and specify the brands and retailers that interest you, as well as the sizes you are looking for (in Men’s, Women’s and/or Kids). You can also customize how often you want to be notified about sale items (daily, weekly, etc.).

I started small: a handful of Women’s and Kids brands and a 2x/week email. The beauty of the Shop It To Me newsletters is that I only get notified when the brands AND sizes I want are on sale. With retailer newsletters, I’m notified every time they have any kind of sale, whether or not my size is available. (I wear a size 11 shoe, so this is particularly convenient in regards to shoe shopping; anything above a 10 can be very difficult to find.) Sometimes, the email also includes a special Shop It To Me discount code as well. Bonus!

Today, I started adding more brands and am considering increasing the frequency at which I’m alerted via email. I’m also considering taking myself off the retailers’ mailing lists (though I’m sure they’d hate to hear that). Who needs them, when I have this?

The Shop It To Me emails (see sample below) are formatted very simply and include thumbnails of the products, so I can scan over it very quickly and either act on it, or delete it. I don’t even have to visit the sites to get the information I need! So simple. One small way to apply technology to simplify your life, instead of making it more complicated.

So, happy shopping. May the bargains be with you.