Mark Davidson

New to Empire Avenue too? I've found the following to be extremely helpful...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:53:00 -0400

I’ve only been using Empire Avenue for 10 days and I’m still learning my way around the interface. For those who are as new to the service as I am, I’ve found the following to be extremely helpful and allows me to interact better with others using the site.

Notifications —> Notification Settings - click one of the 13 notification filters

The notifications can be a bit overwhelming. Initially, I was trying to respond to Shouts by clicking each individual email that landed in my Gmail account. (It only seemed polite to reply to Shouts and to thank people for investing in MARKD.)

Unfortunately, this method was time-consuming and not very enjoyable. (Not to mention oftentimes being overwhelming, cluttered and confusing.)

The team at Empire Avenue did a great job of providing tools for us to use. It just takes a little time to get used to the complexity of the site. (Somewhere between using Twitter and Facebook’s privacy and notification settings.)

The Notification filters I find most useful are Share Buys, Replies and Comments, Mentioned and Shout Outs.

By using these filters, it’s helping me to increase my engagement on EA and doing so in less time.

You also may have noticed that I’ve begun to link to the user who I’m shouting to. To link to a user’s profile, you simply put an ‘e’ in parenthesis next to the user’s name. For example: (e)MARKD. This will hotlink the Shout to the user’s EA profile.

Also, if you are trying to figure out how other people are able to purchase more than 200 shares of a single person, it’s an upgrade. Upgrades are one of the ways that EA is monetizing its service.

https://www.empireavenue.com/shop/upgrades#buy_more

I’ll post more updates as I progress through the game. For people who have been playing Empire Avenue for awhile, I’m sure that the information I’ve provided in this note seems obvious. For me, the discovery of the filters weren’t. It took me 10 days. Now that I’m aware of this feature, boy what a time saver and a great feature to help me to engage better and more consistently with others.

Mark Davidson

TwitPic Stories

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:12:00 -0400

I finally figured out a legitimate use for my Tumblr account. I can archive my TwitPic stories here. I’ve been creating TwitPic stories for years on Twitter. In the past, using photos on Twitter to tell a story in real time has been well received and have generated hundreds of @replies/@mentions and RT’s. (Actually, probably more like thousands but I haven’t actually counted.) It’s also a lot of fun for me to do as well.

The set of photos below were originally created approximately between 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM on Tuesday, June 28th, 2011.

There’s always an element of silliness to my TwitPic stories and the value I intend to provide with them is to either amuse or entertain.

Having the photos statically placed on Tumblr is not quite the same as revealing each story with a 140 character comment, one photo at a time, in real time but I had been meaning to archive these stories for years. Please enjoy.

Mark Davidson

I have gone where nobody knows your name! (So they write it on...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:57:00 -0400

I have gone where *nobody* knows your name! (So they write it on the cup for you!) - Starbucks live un-bagging! 1/10

I am about to breach the doorway… Who knows what actually...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:56:00 -0400

I am about to breach the doorway… Who knows what actually awaits me inside? Pike? Bold? DANGER!? - Starbucks live un-bagging! 2/10

Hitting the re-caffeination station… I haven’t done...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:51:00 -0400

Hitting the re-caffeination station… I haven’t done a Computer unboxing on Twitter in a long time. - Starbucks live un-bagging! 3/10

So today, I think I will do a computer un-bagging. Live! From...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:50:00 -0400

So today, I think I will do a computer un-bagging. Live! From Starbucks! - Starbucks live un-bagging! 4/10

First, I remove the computer from the case. My computer is...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:49:00 -0400

First, I remove the computer from the case. My computer is encased in a protective neoprene sleeve. - Starbucks live un-bagging! 5/10

My nebula red Alienware M11x R3. Intel Core i7 2617M,...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:47:00 -0400

My nebula red Alienware M11x R3. Intel Core i7 2617M, 2 GB DDR3 Nvidia GeForce GT 540M, 8 GB dual channel DDR3 1333MHz. - Starbucks live un-bagging! 6/10

Next to come out of the bag is my iPad. My favorite device for...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:46:00 -0400

Next to come out of the bag is my iPad. My favorite device for reading and viewing content. - Starbucks live un-bagging! 7/10

None of my equipment is much good without an internet...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:45:00 -0400

None of my equipment is much good without an internet connection. (And I’m not a fan of public Wi-Fi.) - Starbucks live un-bagging! 8/10

This is my typical mobile set up. Everything fits inside a...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:44:00 -0400

This is my typical mobile set up. Everything fits inside a 13” computer bag and is extremely portable. - Starbucks live un-bagging! 9/10

I’m all set up and ready to make some magic happen! Thanks...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:43:00 -0400

I’m all set up and ready to make some magic happen! Thanks for joining me in my exclusive live un-bagging! - Starbucks live un-bagging! 10/10

Archive of my 2008-2009 Tumblr posts.

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:14:00 -0500

As near as I can tell… From this point down/back most of these status updates were sent using Ping.fm. The status updates that are bold and in the headline font were sent from something called Quub. Quub was a great idea but way too far ahead of its time.

I thought about deleting them. When I first started using Tumblr, it was not the popular microblogging service that it is now. I have many, far too many social networking accounts. I don’t use most of them but to stay informed, I felt compelled to at least open all these various different accounts, know how to use them and monitor how other people were using them.

There are quite a few social networking services that had great communities of users that are no longer serving pages. Some make it. Some just don’t. In fact some of the better services never quite found their way. Rejaw, Kwippy, Jaiku, Utterli and Pip.io immediately come to mind. Natural selection. Sometimes the most beautiful gazelle is maladapted for an abrupt climate change or an already fickle and socially overloaded audience.

In the future, I don’t think I will aggregate too many status updates to my Tumblr. I’m trying to be a lot more selective these days about how and where I post. I find that this helps to create a unique value for my various individual social network accounts. How much value? I’m not sure. Maybe only valuable to me. Hopefully of value to others as well. Thank you.

Here’s a blog link for the Logitech Touch Mouse http://bit.ly/cGsKBi. You need to install the...

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:17:04 -0500

Here’s a blog link for the Logitech Touch Mouse http://bit.ly/cGsKBi. You need to install the software on your Mac or PC and iPhone.

I just installed Logitech’s Touch Mouse for the iPhone and it is AWESOME! I’m typing...

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:11:06 -0500

I just installed Logitech’s Touch Mouse for the iPhone and it is AWESOME! I’m typing this from my iPhone to my PC! Great for Hulu!

Does anyone else remember when YouTube didn’t have commercials at the beginning of a video?

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:49:13 -0500

Does anyone else remember when YouTube didn’t have commercials at the beginning of a video?

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :p (I hope every one of you are safe, got to wear a silly hat, and had a great time...

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:47:00 -0500

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :p (I hope every one of you are safe, got to wear a silly hat, and had a great time tonight.)

I’m out out of room on my 8 GB iPhone. Time to start deleting movies; Batman: The Dark...

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:23:31 -0400

I’m out out of room on my 8 GB iPhone. Time to start deleting movies; Batman: The Dark Knight and Revolver… I’ll miss you both!

Question… As I’m sitting on the panel, should I really be aggregating my status? I say,...

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:09:23 -0400

Question… As I’m sitting on the panel, should I really be aggregating my status? I say, “Yes!”

At The Gov 2.0 Power Panel in Orange, CA! We’re about to...

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:05:26 -0400

At The Gov 2.0 Power Panel in Orange, CA! We’re about to start.

Mark Davidson

New to Empire Avenue too? I've found the following to be extremely helpful...

TwitPic Stories

I have gone where *nobody* knows your name! (So they write it on...

I am about to breach the doorway… Who knows what actually...

Hitting the re-caffeination station… I haven’t done...

So today, I think I will do a computer un-bagging. Live! From...

First, I remove the computer from the case. My computer is...

My nebula red Alienware M11x R3. Intel Core i7 2617M,...

Next to come out of the bag is my iPad. My favorite device for...

None of my equipment is much good without an internet...

This is my typical mobile set up. Everything fits inside a...

I’m all set up and ready to make some magic happen! Thanks...

Archive of my 2008-2009 Tumblr posts.

Here’s a blog link for the Logitech Touch Mouse http://bit.ly/cGsKBi. You need to install the...

I just installed Logitech’s Touch Mouse for the iPhone and it is AWESOME! I’m typing...

Does anyone else remember when YouTube didn’t have commercials at the beginning of a video?

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :p (I hope every one of you are safe, got to wear a silly hat, and had a great time...

I’m out out of room on my 8 GB iPhone. Time to start deleting movies; Batman: The Dark...

Question… As I’m sitting on the panel, should I really be aggregating my status? I say,...

At The Gov 2.0 Power Panel in Orange, CA! We’re about to...

I have gone where nobody knows your name! (So they write it on...