I’ve been totally amazed at the vast quantity of product recalls that happen every week since I’ve been subscribed to the RSS feed for product recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The recent travesty with the Aqua Dots product recall has just sickened me. To think of a child going comatose by simply putting the product in his mouth is just mind-boggling.

Sad.

I highly recommend subscribing to their feed and browsing the previous recalls to ensure your family is safe. I recently returned an electric leaf blower because of a safety issue I discovered via the feed alert.

See all recalls at this page. They even have a podcast, but at last listen it was simply someone reading the recalls. Very dry.

NaBloPoMo #8

Sigh…I was hoping for a bit more from today’s Google announcement about it’s foray into the mobile phone biz. A part of me was hoping for the much rumored gPhone. No luck.

Truthfully, part of me was hoping that it would be all rumor, so that I could stop researching and go ahead and make a decision on buying a new phone. My two-year Verizon contract is finally up and the market is wide-open. But I don’t want to be locked into a single phone for the next two years either and then the next must-have phone comes out four months in and I’m stuck for another year and a half.

My current plan is to downgrade to one of those pay-as-you-go track phones until I decide on my permanent carrier. I don’t need anything special. Just a number to be reached at by friends and family.

So…then why do I need a fancy phone you ask? Good question.

Maybe its just the consumerist in me. The gadget freak.

Here are the key features that I “need”:

• Phone (duh)
• Good web browsing experience
• Better than average camera
• Google Map integration

Sure, that sounds like an iPhone, but I don’t want another MP3 player. I want my Zune 30 and Zune 8 to handle that. Having another MP3 player would seem like such a waste.

The journey continues, I suppose, stay tuned…

NaBloPoMo #5

I came across a great search tool built specifically to search postings within Twitter call “Terraminds“. (hat tip to Shashi)

This is a great research tool if you’re looking for specific resources for a specific project. For example, I’m always on the lookout for poets to showcase on my poetry podcast “Cloudy Day Art“. I do a simple query for “poetry” (click to try it) and lo and behold I get tweets like (real finds):

I just saw your reply on Nov2. Thank you ^^; I used to do some slam poetry competitions so sometimes maybe it comes out.

i need some poetry that conveys the general message of ‘go aftwr what you want.’

So I came to Starhucks to handle a few clerical things…but it turns out hat I came on poetry night. Poetry night is just a subtle way to stand on a soapbox. Annoying!!!

It can also be a great tool to use to find Tweeters to follow who share your same interests. Looking for fellow kayakers to follow? Search for “going kayaking“. “58 finds in the last 2 months”. Cool.

NaBloPoMo#4

Tonight I received an e-mail from my friend, and Cloudy Day Art interviewee (here and here), Marcus Amaker. He was letting all of us know about his new book of poetry and art and about the redesign of his website.

I couldn’t help but think about how easy simple it is for niche markets and interests to come together and build a community. Being a poet and a poetry podcaster these last two years I discovered how tight our community is. Those of you who have no interest in poetry are oblivious to this…and that’s ok.

Social media is about discovering and getting involved with what interests you and your group of friends, artists, etc. Its about building your niche community online and offline and connecting with others who have yet to join, but are looking for that connection.

Thank you, Marcus, for reminding me of this. Check out this video of Marcus performing his poem “Jazz”, and…oh…buy his book!

marcus amaker - “jazz” (spoken word poem) from marcus on Vimeo.

I saw the new Zune ad during the previews before Lisa and I went to see Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married” tonight.

And, as I mentioned during my NaPodPoMo post, I’m really excited about the potential for the Zune. Not since the iPod have I seen such community build around an MP3 player. The iRiver community built up a lot of steam a few years back, but that seems to have subsided some, but that may be because I’m not as involved anymore.

Or it can be the whole concept of “if you desire something, then the more that desire manifests itself in your life”. Like when you start researching a new car–suddenly they’re everywhere!

Well, here’s the new Zune ad. Welcome to the Social!