Fun with The Ruby Suns

In true 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon form, The Ruby Suns and I are connected by only 2 degrees. My great pal Claire is high school friends with the tour manager of The Ruby Suns. It took just a few emails to get connected with front man Ryan McPhun & strike up a conversation. Ryan is Californian born and bred until he decided to follow his travelling soul across the globe to Auckland, New Zealand where he formed Ryan McPhun & The Ruby Suns. The band has gone through a few iterations up until it's current state. I met up with the band at one of my favorite San Francisco venues, Bottom of the Hill. We all piled onto a small couch in the green room and chatted for about 20 minutes. Most of it was complete and utter nonsense, which certainly made for an interesting editing process. In the end, the video turned out wonderfully. This is yet another highly recommended show. All the guys are up-beat, whimsical in output, yet serious in craft.

Outasight so outta sight

Outasight and I met up at the LRG party in South by Southwest 2010. Outasight packs a killer show- he is classified as hip-hop but he encompasses so many genres. His beats are strong, lyrics are poetic and his melodies are thick and ruddy. Classic rock & 50's big band remnants find their way into his songs, making each one a complex treat.

Outasight, born Richard Andrews, gave our audience some words of wisdom for making it in the music world as well gave some insight into what SXSW offers.

Going home with Kelley James

While working the LRG party at SXSW 2010, I got to meet and interview a ton of incredible artists. We had a few minutes to chat before each interview making it difficult to really get to know a person or latch on to one's personality. This was not the case with Kelley James. He was personable and captivating right from the very beginning. His presence immediately pulls you in and makes you feel comfortable, I instantly felt like I was having a reunion with a long lost pal.

Not only is he a charming individual, he is impeccably talented. His music filled the room and halted everyone in attendance.

Up there, soaking up light

My performances are too far and few between, but when they happen they delight me to no end. I performed at a benefit for FACT/SF, a San Francisco based dance company. I played two of my most recent songs, Come Around and What I Need, as well as a cover (with Paul Gilliham) of Ray Lamontagne's You Are The Best Thing Everyone seemed to love it, already I am itching to have another go. Let's hope I don't wait so long in between performing next time.

Fly Gypsy. Mormon Cowboy.

I reserve the right to change my mind, but this could be--hands down--the best interview I did at SXSW. Fly Gypsy performed at LRG's party on St. Patricks day down at Aces on 6th Street in Austin. The part that you don't see, is this is actually the second time we filmed this interview because I pulled a rookie move and forgot to turn the microphone on. Fly Gypsy were such dolls about it. They kept their energy up, laughed with me and chatted, once again, about their time on stage.

Fly Gypsy has a #1 freestyle out of 132 on DJBooth.net and their single 2 Step reached No. 1 spot on college hip-hop charts.

New Team, New Beginnings, New Goodies

I am delighted to announce that I have joined a new company: Creative Labs, the company who brings you Zen, Sound Blaster, and Vado HD Pocket Cams (to name a few).

And speaking of Vado HD-- I went to SF Outside Lands this past weekend, something I am convinced has become an annual tradition, and filmed all three days with my new toy. You might be thinking that any opinion I give you will be a skewed and biased one, and perhaps that is true. Yes, that is true. BUT, I am also a beginner. I am familiar with the name Creative, I know their products through what I have seen in advertising. When it comes to experiencing Creative products, I previously drew the line at speakers. I was genuinely stoked to get started using my Vado HD.

I'll start off by saying, I love the extra contents they throw in: a silicon skin, carabineer clip for the padded carrying case, and HDMI cable. Plus, there is an option for an additional battery for the camera which is perfect for me because I am always filming exorbitant amounts of things and then forgetting to turn things off. The camera has an auto standby/sleep phase that it goes into when you stop using it for a while. When it's in this phase you can revive it by hitting any button and the screen will flash back up, otherwise it shuts off after prolonged non-use.

I filmed Day One with the thought, "well, here goes" in the back of my head the whole time. I knew eventually I would get home, upload the videos and there would be the proof- either the product is great, or it isn't. When I got home and started listening/watching the clips from the day, I was impressed. I mean jaw-drop impressed. I have used small video recording devices before and they are complete poop when you take them to concerts. Their mics can't handle the blast from the speakers. You know when you are walking somewhere and a car drives past you blasting music inside? The doors rattle, the trunk rattles, your ribcage rattles? I am sure it sounds just peachy inside the car- but outside it sounds like a death rattle. Well, that is what other cams recordings sound like. The Vado HD was sort of a miracle--a Godsend to me, the concert addict. The recording was crystal clear. I could hear a variety of crowd noise that didn't over-power the sound of the song. (Except for the one time that the guy next to me insisted on clapping to the beat--not in time--right into the microphone. That time, I couldn't hear the music. Frankly, I was a bit mad at him- not the Vado.)

Below are all five videos I have created from the three days. I have kept them all short, each is under a minute and a half, so that you can stay entertained and don't have to sacrifice half of your day watching. ;) Let me know what you think, ask me questions, show me your videos, make requests on what you want to see next. I am happy to listen, answer, watch and oblige.

Day One:

Q-Tip and Blind Pilot

Day Two:

Raphael Saadiq and JJ Grey & Mofro This one has a particularly funny dance battle between me and my good pal Tim Heitz

Bat for Lashes and The Mars Volta

Day Three:

Morning Benders and Brett Dennen

Calexico and Lucinda Williams

Lithium announces our community, J-Net, as one of the cool kids!

Lithium just announced companies who are using their communities platform successfully and Juniper's J-Net happens to be on there (slide 11 on the deck posted below), and we are all so very proud. (Applause Applause)

We've been running Lithium for almost two years now, and every bit of it has been a gratifying experience. Lithium is full of innovative and clever individuals; they are always delivering great solutions to the undying questions like, "How can we make our community more successful? How can we reduce costs by utilizing our online community? How can we make sure our customers are getting the right information and a high-quality experience that they need?"

Not too long ago, J-Net was a feeble community. It was an under-utilized, under-developed space. Today, we pride ourselves in a thriving community. I am thrilled that I have had the pleasure of getting to know and interact with so many of our J-net users. It is an amazing thing, watching a community grow. We constantly receive feedback from our users thanking us for giving them a space where they can efficiently gather information, get their questions answered, and have fun participating in promotions where they can win prizes-- you are all most welcome. We are elated we can provide you with such a positive experience.

It's a rewarding feeling, being acknowledged by Lithium as one of their Customer Success stories, but it's even more rewarding knowing we are doing something right for our community. Thanks to all our users and Lithium for allowing us to make such great strides with J-Net these past 19 months.

Lithium Customer Success Slides Q2 09

View more OpenOffice presentations from Lithium Tech.

Transformers: This rant has been a long time coming.

I've been mentally revisiting my UC Berkeley days a lot lately.

In class, we were encouraged to question everything, even our own perceptions and beliefs. If I believed something to be true, that perceived truth was challenged by my professors. I was asked to disassemble my belief, to champion for the other side, to rearrange, reconstruct, pull apart--you get the point. There were times when the process was tedious and seemed like the professors were flexing their power, but at the end of it all- it helped me to form a concrete understanding of an issue and the way I felt about it.

This process of deconstructing and evaluating information has become a favorite skill of mine. I am grateful that I (perhaps one of very few) left the theatre feeling insulted that Michael Bay didn't attempt to hide his "Buy American Cars" message in the Transformers film. Instead he flew the GM flag so brightly, it was like a night time road crew telling me to switch lanes. And really now--how quickly we forget Transformer's Japanese origin. It was not all that long ago that Tranformers was being syndicated on American TV from Japan, complete with dubbed English. This is not immediate point though, the point is this: we are so accustomed to receiving media, that we wait for it to be given, we receive it without really looking and without questioning what we are given.

For many of my friends, they saw an action film, they saw the typical poor CG that showed up in today's action films, they saw great looking cars and a sexy leading young man and lady (Is Shia Labeouf sexy? Jury is still out on that one). And to an extent, yes- those were all there. But they were all catalysts for throwing this message of "buy American cars" at all of us. Maybe it's not Michael Bay's fault that his motion picture has been turned into an hour and a half GM commercial. Perhaps it's Universal Studios, or NBC, or one of those Big Wig champs up in their sky rise buildings making all the decisions.

We, as a consuming public-desperate for media and entertainment at such a rapid pace-are easily distracted. Like kids with keys jingling in front of our eyes, we are. Jingle the pretty Megan Fox before me and sure, I'll let you tell me to trade in my Honda Accord for a Ford Edge. (I said, "I'll let you tell me" not, "convince me.")

To me, social media is the great exception to mass media consumption. Even though we consume social media in astounding quantities, we exercise choice. We search for people who deliver insightful commentary, we subscribe to comically smart podcasts, we befriend authors for NY Times on Twitter or Facebook. Sure, there are the mindless YouTube videos and celebrity trash sites--and who doesn't love a sophomoric distraction once in a while? But that is exactly the point- we consume what we want when we feel we want it.

Last example to prove my point: If I want to watch an indie film, I have to go to an indie theatre. Thank goodness I live in a metropolitan area where I can watch most any film on the indie market from the dilapidated comfort of a semi-shoddy San Francisco picture house. But not everyone has that opportunity. They are stuck to the mainstream box office hits- they are stuck to the blatant "Buy Chevy!" messaging. Social media has no mainstream- there is no discrimination on individuals based on happenstance of one's geography. In a way, all websites are created equal.

I realize this post, like most of my posts, has been long. And if you are here-- thanks for sticking it out. This is a much larger topic, one that would be best discussed in a group, in a cafe, late at night. But for now-- feel free to comment back. Tell me if that movie convinced you to purchase a Camaro, and if it did... can I borrow it?

Familiarize yourself with Juniper - Part 2: Facebook and LinkedIn

I left off discussing Juniper's involvement with Twitter and pointed you towards Juniper's three blogs for the strategic, technical, and bridge audiences. Hopefully you have already had time to peruse the links on past blogs and get acquainted with these topics.

How many of you have explored all of what LinkedIn can offer? They recently broadened their capabilities and offerings. Now, it functions not only as a way for you to remain connected to your friends and colleagues, but as a networking option for people you have yet to meet who share similar interests. In this case, your common bond is Juniper and all the many juniper-focused categories.

If you search LinkedIn today, you will find 27 groups you can join. The topics range from JUNOS Certification, to being a Juniper Engineer, to location based user groups. There is even a group called "Juniper Networks - A dream company to work with" with many starry-eyed members. LinkedIn has been known as a great networking tool, especially if you are searching

for a new job or recommendation to boost your credibility as a good hire. Groups allow you to have access to people from all over the globe who are importing information that is relevant to you. Since you already talk shop with your friends, why not join a few Juniper groups? You'll get connected to the information you may otherwise be missing out on. I highly recommend you do your own search and examine what possibilities await you.

Though Facebook was not initially designed as an online industry mixer, it has slowly become a major resource for professional networking. Mind you, Facebook

remains a relaxed atmosphere and doesn't typically conjure an impression of polished interactions. I am of the mindset that upholding the corporate personality at all times can be exhausting--people need a place to relax a bit. Facebook feels like a casual Friday to me. Just because I work at Juniper for the 9-5pm (well, realistically, 7pm) doesn't mean I stop being an advocate when I am out of the office. Facebook functions similarly to LinkedIn by allowing you to join fan pages and groups. There is even a use who touts themself as the living personification of Juniper Networks itself! Join one of these groups and start to add pictures to the pile of fan photos, connect with peers, and keep up-to-date on Juniper news. While you're at it, feel free to add my Facebook profile to your list of friends. It's always nice to hear from fans of Juniper.

This isnt the end. Next post, I'll let you know how to keep track of Juniper on social bookmarking sites like Delicious and Digg as well as highlight all the many ways to stream Juniper to your RSS.

Whats the good word? Network World recommends Juniper Twitter Stream

Media mentions Twitter over 8,000 times per week, so says Twitter. On Friday the 3rd of March, one of those media mentions mentioned Juniper's Twitter. You're following me, right? Bob Brown of Network World suggested @JNetTawnee twitter stream as one of the "IT Security Vendors worth following on Twitter."

Brown writes that "The most dedicated security Tweeters seem to come from the labs, though others such as...Juniper...are also quite active." He also points to a much larger list of enterprise IT and network companies on Twitter. Juniper's three twitter streams, @JuniperNetworks, @JNetTawnee, and @JUNOSJeff are all on there. Although, for some reason Jeff's and my twitter stream are listed under "Intel"--two above Juniper's listing. A mistake, I'm most certain.

It's wonderful to have a bit of recognition and promotion surrounding our social media efforts. I encourage all of you to contact me, either via Twitter or comment on this post here to let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback. Let me know what type of content you want to see more of, or how we can improve your twitter-experience. Are we giving you everything you want? Let me know.