Mojo Denbow

Ever since Muxtape decided to suspend music streaming service because the RIAA was threatening legal action, various attempts to replicate the popular services have exploded. One such service, Tumbltape, has a unique twist in that it pulls music hosted on the very popular lifestreaming blog service Tumblr.

Here is my tape: http://www.tumbltape.com/mojodenbow My Tumblr blog is a catch-all. All of my website feeds are funneled into it to create Combo Mojo.

Also, check out one of the other services called 8Tracks

Warning: this live streaming video from a mobile phone tool will be used frequently by me for various informational and entertainingful purposes. You can follow along with me here: http://qik.com/mojodenbow . I have 5 free invitations to those who leave a comment below (be sure to add email address so I know where to send it. Make sure your phone is supported too!

Here is/was a live clip from the republican National convention from what we can assume is a delegate on the scene.

I’ve stated before that this is not a political blog. I try not to use this as a platform to promote divisivness. I value my friends and contacts as well as their opinions, but these past two weeks  of party conventions has brought out the most snarky, bitter, hateful comments. Let me encourage civility and discussion of issues as opposed to slams, sound bytes and "gotchas"

My views are conservative and I welcome discussion and opposing viewpoints. The United States of America  needs this so we can truly become one and meet our challenges together.

image by Photo Mojo

image by bwdaly

Today is my little girl’s first birthday. Wow. I’ve been thinking of what I wanted to say to commemorate this occasion for awhile now but for some reason just get too emotional.  This time last year, Wonderwife was at the hospital 3 weeks before the due date for a routine baby check-up when the doctor said she was ready to go. At 7:37PM, little Daphne changed our lives forever.

The first thing I saw of her was the gorgeous, brown hair and then when I saw the rest of her I cried. Profusely.  Already I was a proud father and could not be happier. If possible, I love Wonderwife even more for bringing us Daphne.

The past couple of months have seen amazing change in her when she started walking around 9 months, starting to talk (overjoyed when I walked in and she said "Hi da-da"), has become more social including flirting with the preacher’s 4 yr old kid, and has even started kicking/dribbling a soccer ball around the living room!

Daphne Veronica: your mother and I love you very much and we are overwhelmed with happiness that you bring to us. Happy birthday!

Coming in January, passionate photographers in the area will gather for an UNconference to discuss, learn and share all things photography. I’ll go into further details as time allows and pieces fall into place but for now, if you are interested, go ahead and add yourself to the wiki page and follow us on Twitter!

PhotoCamp Houston wiki:http://barcamp.org/PhotoCampHouston

Twitter: @PhotoCampHouston

logo courtesy of David Herrold, thanks!

Splash!, originally uploaded by Photo Mojo.

Daphne does a very good job at splashing daddy and camera at the pool.

Like free, streaming music? File this one under Audio Mojo…

Blog Remix is an experimental application from Yahoo! Next that lets you remix your favorite MP3 blogs.  Spend a couple hours immersed in the world of music blogs, saving your favorite posts and building up your own personal mix along the way.  When you’re done, you can save the result for future reference or export it as a playlist, feed (RSS or Atom) or HTML to share with your friends.

Blog Remix is built on Adobe AIR so you will need to have that installed first if you don’t have this already.

Have a favorite music blog? Let me/us know in the comments so I can add it to my mix!

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The Next Best Thing

Is it me or are you looking for the next best thing in software? Gadgets are nice, but who can afford all of them? Most of them are obsolete after you unwrap it. With software and web apps though, they can become a tool that is used daily. To prevent obsolescence, the software is modified and enhanced (or should be).

I use Flickr, Del.icio.us, Gmail, ,Skype, FeedDemon, Firefox 3, Wordpress on a daily basis. These are absolutely essential to my daily life. I am sure there are a few more apps, but who can keep up with them all?
I am at the point now where I still enjoy testing new software for companies, provide feedback and write up a review/opinion, but I also want to integrate them into my daily world too.

Acceptance

At what point does something move from “shiny new thing” to a usable tool? The answer is “when your mother uses it”. Also, when you use it daily. How long did it take for email integration? Instant messaging? When Time magazine listed “You” as the person of the year, several articles mentioned Web 2.0 companies and trends. Have we crossed over yet? Is web 2.0 mainstream? Not yet because it has not been generally accepted by moms everywhere. Ask yourself, “Does mom use RSS? Why not?”

So my original question remains, now what? I’ve checked the memes out there this week and nothing is piquing my interest. A new social site here, a clone software app there. What is original? What can I use daily?

So many questions, I know, but I’ll finish with one more: What are you seeing out there that you can share with us?

Software programs and web applications are very handy, but which ones do you use most?
Let me break it down for everyone.

• operating system
• office and document suites
• email service
• instant messenger
• media player
• RSS feed reader
• internet browser
• PC protection
• photo service
• bookmark manager
• online maps
• blog software
• widgets
• add-ons/extensions
• calendar/event manager

This is a pretty good breakdown of tools that most of us use on a daily basis. Others are frequent but not as important. If you are like me, you have more than one application for each category but have just the one that you use the most.

So in the comments section, list your faves and maybe even try to justify it a little bit. Maybe someone reading your suggestions is sitting on a fence and may lean towards it with your help.

Example: 3 OS: MS Vista on one PC for testing, WinXP Media Center, Ubuntu Linux on the laptop.

Add yourself to the informal poll!

With so many websites in the Mojo Network, I don’t have time to add blog posts to every social site I am a member of. These websites are my spaces. I am paying for the domain names and server space so why would I consistently use the free, hosted sites? As someone recently said “It’s like remodeling your kitchen in the home that you rent” it just adds content to something that isn’t yours and the host makes money off of the content. No thanks!

So why am I on Facebook/MySpace/lickr, etc? Because a lot of people are on them. You go where the traffic is to glean information and to network. Also, think of the social sites as parties. You go to see and be seen, and have a good time doing it, right? The same holds true online as well. With RSS feeds, and open networks between all of the various web apps, I don’t have to go to say, Facebook and post content from Photo Mojo because it is done automagically.

Facebook- I use this strictly as a means to view what others are doing or find interesting. Anytime one of my contacts adds something it is tracked and delivered via RSS feed so I can bypass the site and its increasing advertisements. Look me up: Chris Denbow

Linked In- Think of it as a web 2.0 contact book for workers seeking to expand their professional network. Let’s get linked: Chris “Mojo” Denbow

Plaxo- Used to be the bane of the professional world because of spamming issues and no privacy but has cleaned up and makes nice with more than a few applications since joining Google’s Open Social initiative. I just recently signed up so I can add/remove/sync all of my contacts from Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn and my smartphone. Add me: Chris “Mojo” Denbow

Outlook 2007- quickly becoming my first stop when managing contacts as well as a social tool. Third party software including Xobni (inbox spelled backwards) allows you to connect with your contacts.

Windows Mobile 6.1- all contacts are stored into my phone, just in case it is needed. Sync’d with Outlook/Plaxo/Gmail/LinkedIn it is an indispensable tool on my smartphone. By using Fring, mobileware that allows you to chat with your contacts via Google Talk, Skype, Twitter, etc the value just increased.

Groups- Got a collaborative project? Need to connect with like-minded people? Both Yahoo & Google Groups are the place to go when you want secure interaction and a place to hang out collectively.

Twitter- almost as good as instant messaging individuals and groups about whatever it is on your mind or for event tracking in 140 characters or less for each “tweet”. Read/Share tweets: mojodenbow

These sites and connections help build my digital brand and allow me to meet new people both on/offline. There are people I meet with similar passions out there that I want to share with. There are a huge number of folks I meet that I need information and can learn from.

What social tools do you use to connect with new people, contacts? Let me know!