I do not like
screen eggs and spam.
I will not follow you,
Tweeter-I-am.

I do not like you
there or here.
I will not follow you in the
twitosphere.

Your tweets are endless noisy
twutter.
It fills my stream with useless
clutter.
I do not like
screen eggs and spam.
I will not follow you,
Tweeter-I-am.

Your egg may be green, orange, or
blue
You all leave me wondering,
who are you?

Your tweets may be phishing or a
scam.
You might try to turn on
my remote webcam.
I do not like
screen eggs and spam.
I will not follow you,
Tweeter-I-am.

You may be my favorite
twitterati.
Or my my best friend
from Cinncinati.
If you are tweeterboxes with a case of
twitterrhea
I don’t care if your’re my favorite
pizzeria.

Not with a phone.
Not from the throne.
I would not, could not, with a Facebook hack.
I could not, would not, with a PC or Mac.
I do not like
screen eggs and spam.
I will not follow you,
Tweeter-I-am.

Having experienced the East Coast Earthquake and Hurricane Irene in succession I have observed a number of activities that hampered communications during these events. I would like to share some advice on communicating during events, both expected and especially unexpected.

1. Refrain from using the phone system, both land lines and cell. Both of these infrastructures suffered a denial of service (DoS) during the earthquake and for some time afterwards. Update your family/friend/work communication plan to include alternate methods of communication such as text messaging and social media. Text messages often go through even when cell calls aren’t. Instant messaging, twitter, and Facebook were working flawlessly during and after the earthquake and I used those methods to connect with people. This is how I found out the phone systems were down. People were tweeting that they couldn’t make calls and people were IMing me saying they were trying to call me. Use internet technology if it is available during the event to connect, let others know you are ok, and move on. Leave the phone lines for those who need emergency assistance.

2. Don’t call 911 unless it is a real emergency. Local 911 communications were also suffering from a denial of service because loads of people were calling to report the earthquake, or to ask if that was an earthquake. Do not call 911 unless you need emergency assistance.

3. Have a two-way radio/walkie talkie plan. We created a neighborhood two-way radio communication plan in the event of an emergency or cell/land line disruption. We agreed in advance on the channel to use for communicating and we break out the two-way radios when needed. You can get two-way radios now that cover many miles (for example 35 miles). Its a good idea to keep one in your car too.

4. Make sure these tips are incorporated into your business/IT disaster response plan. After the earthquake I heard many IT teams and businesses stating a huge flaw in their disaster plan. Most plans involve carrying a list of key personnel and their cell phone numbers. With cell service disrupted, team members without a backup plan were unable to communicate. Make sure to incorporate the tips above into your professional life as well.

Last month I read an article on Lifehacker about using a circular calendar to manage daily tasks and to-do lists. I have been using the concept since then and I love it. I have modified it a bit to suit my needs – adjusting it to resemble an analog clock face. I still use both an inner and outer ring to identify day and night tasks. Instead of wasting a lot of paper, I printed out my main clock face circle as a ring on clear sticker paper, cut it, and stuck it right in the center of my white board. Now I can easily write and erase my daily tasks each day. I also have room for notes and other brainstorming ideas around the top and sides of the white board. Here is a pic of an example day. Try it, you might like it!

My new word twutter has been accepted to the urban dictionary.

Twutter is a term that I created to describe tweets that clutter up my twitter feed. If I follow someone and they unleash too much twutter, I have to unfollow them.