endnotes: @MsHerr avatar version 2.0
Posted by Ms. Herr in self-portraiture, social media, socialmediatoday on August 29, 2009
Over the past two weeks, many that I know, and a few that I don’t, commented on the soft edit set for my next avatar. I said I’d crowd-source the selection, and that the image that rose to the surface during the soft edit process would be the image I moved forward with. But in the end, I’ve chosen another image for very specific reasons.
The portrait with the most votes bears a lot of resemblance in expression to my first crowd-sourced avatar. They share an uninhibited smile, a joyful disposition, and a welcoming air. Perhaps there’s even a hint of mischievousness. These qualities may be some of the best loved by those who know me. They set both friend and stranger at ease, in essence, opening them to me.
crowd-selected avatars*
I take comfort that these qualities are so continuous in my character that they reveal a corresponding continuity in my photo shoots. However, as I plan to keep my previous avatar in rotation, and perhaps even primary, I’d rather not have two avatars so similar.
On a more technical note, cropping and image size also had a significant impact on my selection. Many individuals addressed cropping issues in the evaluation of the jump photos. No one mentioned it with the profile on the swings, wherein my hand would likely get cut off entirely. And no one addressed image size. Consider that social profiles and applications display images fairly small. Twitter’s web interface displays images at a mere 48×48 pixels. When you scale down many of the top images from my soft edit set, something gets lost. In the jump photos, it’s the fact that I’m jumping and it’s most of my distinguishing features except for my hair. In the crowd-selected image, it’s my eyes. With one of my words, touch, being so much about connection, and with so much of that connection flowing from great eye contact, I could not justify that loss.
selected images from soft edit set*
That brings us to my final selection, the image that was liked by most who commented, voted top by a handful, and caused the one who didn’t know me want to. Thank you to all who participated. Your feedback was insightful and had a great deal of influence on what is now @MsHerr avatar version 2 point oh.
photo credit: tysoncrosbie
*All photography by Tyson Crosbie. I love him. He’s awesome!
crowd-sourcing my avatar selection, version 2.0
Posted by Ms. Herr in self-portraiture, social media, socialmediatoday on August 14, 2009
Four hundred sixty some odd days ago, I sat down for a portrait session with Tyson Crosbie. Of the hundred or so shots that were taken, a soft edit set of 16 images were uploaded to Flickr and opened for comments. I asked a public, comprised of my online communities of friends and followers, to tell me which image they most connected with as a representation of Ms. Herr.
And I’m at it again.
Seven days ago, Tyson and I got together to capture a new body of images. In his process, a session is driven by three words chosen by the subject as articulating what they want the final portrait to portray.
These are my words, chosen after significant personal reflection, chosen because they distill not only who I am, but also how I aspire to engage the world around me.
The soft edit set for this session will go went live on Flickr today. Comments will be open for people to select their favorite(s) and provide critical feedback. Which one(s) most genuinely conveys my character? My aspirations? My human dimensionality? Which one captures my words? Which one connects?
I hope you’ll help me choose.
@MsHerr hits 10k tweets… & hands over the keys
Posted by Ms. Herr in blogging, community, geekery, self-portraiture, social media, socialmediatoday on July 21, 2009
After 26 months on Twitter, I’m fast approaching ten thousand Twitter updates. That’s a lot of characters. It’s a bit of a milestone. Not like turning 18. Or turning 21. Or losing your virginity. But a milestone nevertheless.
@spectagirl suggested 10,000 shots. Indeed momentous, but not quite what I had in mind. @smarti9 started #MsHerr10kWatch2oo9. My friends are often quick to rally behind my endeavors in some fashion or another.
A few hours ago, I was 10 tweets away from 10k. By the time you read this, I’ll be 7 tweets or less from 10k. The build up to that 10,000th tweet has been fun, but also a bit daunting. Suddenly 140 characters has become a much bigger deal than necessary. There is this pressure to be momentous. Funny considering I’m much more likely to miss it completely (despite @smarti9’s 10k watch) and either use it on a reply or post something completely irrelevant.
I’ve decided to hand over the keys to my Twitter account. That means you (and everyone else) will have the opportunity to post as and from @MsHerr for up to 26 hours.
Why am I doing this? This is not the first time I’ve yielded control of my social presence. A year ago, I asked my community to help me select my avatar. My reasons then still hold true today. I believe in the social web. I believe in trusting my friends, connections, and communities. I believe in yielding control. And I’m curious to see what will happen. It could be phenomenal success or it could be an abysmal failure. But why not? Don’t answer that, it’s a rhetorical question.
How will it work? I have set up a Ping.fm account linked to @MsHerr and will publish the associated posting email address in my 10,000th tweet. You (and everyone else) can send a tweet to this address, where it will then feed automatically to @MsHerr. My only request is that you sign your tweet with ^@yourtwittername (please replace yourtwittername with your actual twitter name so people can link to you). Ping accepts text updates and photo updates, so feel free to post pics too. If you need a how-to, check out Ping’s posting guides.
My disclaimer: I reserve the right to delete any tweet. If you do not sign your tweet, I will probably delete it. If I feel violated by your tweet, I will probably delete it. After all, this is my account we’re talking about.
That’s it. That’s the deal. Make me laugh. Make me cry. Make me proud. And remind me why I fell in love with the social web so many months ago.
please excuse me while I claim my blog
Posted by Ms. Herr in Uncategorized on July 6, 2009
Did you know you can claim your blog(s) on Technorati? I did, or rather, have. For a very long time. Like months and months and months. And I’m onlly just doing it today. By writing a whole post for the sole purpose of publishing the code guc53szv8y somewhere in my blog. Procrastination FTW! Or FTL! Whatever, just better late than never.
Note: When you go to claim your own blog, don’t use that guc5 blah blah blah code. That one was just for Ms. Herr when online.
‘play school’
We have learned to ‘play school’…
We have learned to pretend to be learning,
___ so that we can satisfy others expectations of what ‘means’ to have learned.
Meanwhile, what happened to play?
Real play…
___ the do it because it’s fun
___ ___ and because I’m interested in it
___ ___ ___ because it stimulates me
___ ___ ___ ___ kind of play.
Which also happens to be the kind of play that results in learning
___ but is not engaged to satisfy learning,
___ ___ but to satisfy pleasure,
___ ___ ___ or curiosity.
It’s like reading…
How many of us used to love to read?
How many of us still do?
Did we find other diversions that we love more?
Or was it the expectation that we learn something from our reading…
___ not just any something,
___ ___ but the certain something
___ ___ ___ that he/she/they wanted us to learn.
What, then, do we really learn?
To please others?
To deny our own curiosities?
To fall out of love with that which we used to love?
I, for one, enjoy school…
___ minus the deadlines,
___ ___ and the expectation to reach pre-determined outcomes.
I enjoy school
___ because I like learning.
I like learning
___ because I love the way my head feels
___ ___ when it’s seems ready to implode
___ ___ ___ with all the cool stuff going on inside it.
*Inspired by Pay Attenion, found via Daily Sense.
will work for food
Posted by Ms. Herr in human dimensionality, self-portraiture on April 12, 2009
It seems we can’t go a day without ever more disturbing news about our downward spinning economy. Bank failures, auto industry bailouts, rising unemployment rates. Those newly laid off are just beginning to feel the pinch, dipping into savings accounts while they try to find new jobs. Meanwhile, those who were on the leading cuts have long ago turned to 401k and supplemental retirement accounts.
I first started to feel the pinch over two years ago as the company I was partner in struggled to line up new clients. First it was half-pay every other pay cycle. Then half-pay every pay cycle. At its worst, I drew only 20% of my expected monthly draw. Things improved, then declined again. The partnership ended as September 2008 ended. My stake in the company was so small that I had no say in the matter.
I’ve have yet to land another full-time position. I’ve filed applications, submitted resumes, had over a handful of interviews, and dozens more informal conversations. Some opportunities led to second and third round interviews only to be end with a “we are holding off on hiring” or something similar. In some cases, I’ve discovered weeks later that company is implementing ideas I presented during my interview. I’ve taken on two part-time jobs, a roommate, and contract work. It’s still not enough to sustain me.
The point of this sob story is not sympathy. It’s context. Yeah, things have been hard. Sure, I’ve felt defeated. And yes, I’ve sobbed. But somewhere among all the pieces, I discovered something…
Will Work for Food (photo credit: Technosailor)
We work. We earn an income. We buy things we need. We dream about things we want. We get better jobs. We earn more income. We buy the things we want. We call them needs.
That’s generally how things go when one climbs the ladder of success. But when the ladder morphs into a slide and income declines or disappears, we look for ways to decrease our needs. We turn of the lights when we leave the room. We cancel cable. We put student loans in forbearance. We take public transportation. One by one, we eliminate budgetary line items. Until in the end, you realize… We’re all just working for food!
#SXSW wrap & rawk: part 2 of 2 … the highlights
As I listen to the podcast of Rawking SXSW Year Round panel, I’m finally writing the last of my South by Southwest wrap up posts. What can I say, March was a busy month, first getting my #getmetosxsw on, then the event itself, then returning to a visit from my aunt and cousin from Kansas, and finally getting backing into the groove of work and the real world.
So how was it? In a word: AWESOME! In all realness: the dress rehearsal for next year.
Despite all the people I talked to and the questions I asked before I went, there really is no way to know what to expect until you’ve experienced it once. Over and over I was told that it was less about the panels and more about the people. As a knowledge lover, it’s hard to let go of the desire to attend panels, lots and lots of panels. My selection of these was hit and miss. Some I couldn’t even get into because they were over capacity. The good news is that most, if not all, of them are supposed to be available as podcasts.
But the people… The people were a definite hit. Three types of people specifically. Type 1: The people you only get to see when you’re both in town for the big conferences. Type 2: The people that you’ve connected with online, but have yet to meet in real life. Type 3: The people you never knew you never knew. My SXSW highlights are [almost] all about the people.
Blowing kisses at SXSW. (photo credit: Brian Brodeur, mightyb.com)
Darryl Ohrt2, Missy Reitner3, and Joey Leslie3 discover a new tasty bizzeverage – I’m not a beer drinker, so when I rendezvoused with Darryl for drinks, I ordered a snakebite and black. Part lager, part cider, with a splash of black currant. The slightly red coloring piqued curiosity. The taste won over a few new fans. >> Darryl and his Plaid colleagues on will venture on their third PlaidNation tour this summer. I’ll be watching, and I’m scheming on how to secure one of their super nifty retro hotel keyrings.
Clarence Smith, Jr.2 – For my part, I was captivated by @dykc from the first “Marinate.” We mutually followed fo a year, text tagged the first two days of SXSW, greeted like old friends, and the got up got up & got down and the dance floor before all was done. Not one moment was anything less than uplifting. >> Clarence, both storyteller and storyseeker, took a turn on the mic at Fray Café 9.
WLTV impromptu wine party(s) – This was my first time seeing Gary Vaynerchuk1 in a big conference setting, and he impressed me on a variety of ways. From greeting people he’s met only once or twice before to yielding over two-thirds of his panel to his audience, he has a way of seeding meaningful sentiment into each encounter. One night, Gary threw two impromptu wine tasting parties advertised with a few simple tweets and drew a significant turnout. The magnetism this man has with an audience thirsty for inspiration is awesome to behold. >> Gary’s got more projects than a girl has breath to talk about, one of which is a book due for release this fall (likely under a different title than the one listed in the article).
Kissing Penguin – By the second day, I had decided to kiss Jeremy Tanner1 every time I saw him. Plant a quick peck on the cheek, then walk away without a word. He’s like a big teddy bear. But he’s got some stealth too. The sneaky devil beat me at my own game once! >> Penguin was recently selected as a Ford Fiesta Movement Agent.
Declared missing by the #phx crew (sorta) – At the WordPress BBQ, Curtis Miller and Chris Chandler told me they thought I’d disappeared. We’d had an early dinner two nights before, but not even a passing in the halls since. I took it as a compliment. It meant I was off meeting new people. >> Chris and Curtis deliver a wickedly dry humorous podcast called Personality Flatline. It’s been on a bit of a hiatus as they get their new company, Flatterline, off the ground, but I hope it makes a quick return.
Lunch with strangers –I bumped into Jeremy Hubert3 after tweeting about wanting to have lunch with strangers. I’d met Jeremy the night before, so he didn’t count as a stranger. The two guys with him did. After lunch, and I told Jeremy I’d eat with him everyday on condition that he introduce me to strangers each time. Call it an effort in outsourcing my networking.
And gettin’ my dance on – Friday night, Saturday night, Monday night… I got my dance on quite a bit. Indeed, one morning I woke to soreness and a monster blister on my little toe. More often than not I was with Chris Smith3 (aptly named @groovemonkey), Brian Brodeur3 (a #phx peep I never knew I never knew), and the Blurb crew3. Good, good times! >> Brian was at SXSW photo documenting Media Trust’s Relevantly Speaking shoots at SXSW, and is responsible for the shot of me shown above.
Congratulations
Your first AWS Elastic Beanstalk Node.js application is now running on your own dedicated environment in the AWS Cloud
This environment is launched with Elastic Beanstalk Node.js Platform
What’s Next?
- AWS Elastic Beanstalk overview
- AWS Elastic Beanstalk concepts
- Deploy an Express Application to AWS Elastic Beanstalk
- Deploy an Express Application with Amazon ElastiCache to AWS Elastic Beanstalk
- Deploy a Geddy Application with Amazon ElastiCache to AWS Elastic Beanstalk
- Customizing and Configuring a Node.js Container
- Working with Logs
how to watch every James Bond movie ever made
Posted by Ms. Herr in randomness on April 4, 2009
“The first Bond movie I saw was GoldenEye, and I confess that it might still be my favorite.”
How I did it: I recorded my progress on 43 Things in the comments under my initial entry on this goal.
Lessons & tips: Carve out time to complete this goal, either by designating a regular time to watch each movie (ex: Sunday evenings) or setting aside a handful (or two) of days to watch several movies back to back. The combined run time is 3008 minutes, or just over 50 hours. So yeah, you’re gonna need some time to watch all 24 films.
Resources: I created a PDF listing all of the Bond movies by release date. It includes both official and unofficial movies (those not produced by EON Productions). If you’d like a copy, send me an email at heather lynne herr at gmail dot com. Alternatively, you can refer to Wikipedia’s article on James Bond.
It took me 372 days.
It made me 
#SXSW wrap & rawk: part 1 of 2 … the THANK YOUs
Twelve days ago, I returned from South by Southwest. Twelve days ago, “SXSW wrap up post” has topped my to do list. I’m overdue, but before I talk about my experience, I need to say thank you.
Having been underemployed for the better part of six months, there is no way I would have made it to SXSW on my own. I needed help.
I started my #getmetosxsw hustle four weeks out. I carried a piggy bank around the third Ignite Phoenix. I secured a second part-time job (not officially hustle, but it helped). And I offered business services in exchange for contribution. This last led to some really cool opportunities. Notably:
- SnapFactory Twitter Interactive photo shoot – Mark Wallace of SnapFactory was given the opportunity to test Profoto lighting equipment in a fashion shoot. He opened the shoot to live behind-the-scenes interaction via Twitter and Flickr, bringing me on as his online journalist. (See video here.)
- Guerrilla Dance Attack press release and web presence – Aileen Mapes is a Dance MFA candidate at ASU’s Herberger College of the Arts. Her thesis explores the dynamic merging of choreography and site-specific improvisation that occurs once dance is taken outside of traditional performance venues and into the streets. Aileen engaged me to create press materials and Tumblr logs for leveraging both Guerrilla Dance Attack and future work.
- Texder product testing and alpha launch – Texder is a personal SMS sales tool that has been in bootstrap development for several months. As an integral part of the development team, I have led internal product testing, social outreach, community previews, and most recently, SXSW promotions.
The icing on all this cake was the outpouring of support of my community. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Diane Wallace, James Archer and Forty Agency, Jason Baer, Tom Chapin, Mark Dudlik, Aaron Post, Todd Huffman, Biray Alsac, and more.
piggy up spare change
I’ll have a special guest with me at Ignite Phoenix tonight. I haven’t named him yet, so we’ll just call him Byno, as in albino, cause he’s white. Byno* is my piggy bank. He was a gift a couple of years ago. He has one job: to pig up and hoard my loose change, spare bills, and random dreams of trips I want to take. I’ve snuck a few parking quarters from him a couple of times, and $120 once a year ago to pay some bills the first time things got tough. But I never used his funds for their designated purpose: travel.
It’s time to change that. The sum of Byno’s stash is going toward #getmetosxsw (South by Southwest). I don’t know how much is there yet. Maybe I’ll get a count before Ignite Phoenix. Meanwhile, if you want to help fill his big empty belly, feel free to drop a few dimes in him when you see him, and me, at tonight’s Ignite.
*As of 4:27pm, my piggy bank now has a name: Pigport (via @RunItsTheFuz). But you can still call him Byno if you want to.
