But there’s a big question on my mind: When meeting these people, it’s a given we’ll exchange Twitter handles. Would I be doing the same in the last five years with Facebook, and before that, email addresses, and before that, phone numbers?

My answer is an easy “no.” Twitter is working brilliantly.

I’m able to “connect” with others without taking on an overbearing view of their life (Facebook), their time (email) or their privacy (phone). Instead, I’m getting involved in their ongoing conversations and thoughts, discovering common interests and contributing to their projects.

I guess we could exchange “business cards” (it gets quotations because I use a “contact card”) and leave it at that, but that just seems so cold, so dead end. Unless, of course, their Twitter handle is on it.

Massive burrito meal for me.

I think I have this right.

From my experience:

I go to Chipotle because it was my first massive burrito experience – my original.

I go to Qdoba for a break from Chipotle, and for the “sauces” they offer, like their queso.

I’ve been to Panchero’s and they do this sweet thing where they take a little ball of raw dough, about the size of a golf ball, and flatten it (right in front of your eyes). And then they stir up your fixings, which Erin and I agreed is unnecessary, and maybe even hurts the burrito.

And lastly, I’ve been to Taco Del Mar where there serve not only mondo burritos but a variety of other Mexican-like entrees.

So, it’s Chipotle the original, Qdoba the queso, Panchero’s the smasher, and Taco Del Mar the I’m-not-going-back-there.

Assuming they all opened one after another, as the popularity of unnecessarily-big burritos rose, I did a bit of research to confirm. According to their websites (except for Chipotle in which I opted for Wikipedia after I was too annoyed with the amount of flash on chipotle.com) their founded dates are: Taco Del Mar and Panchero’s in 1992, Chipotle in 1993, and Qdoba in 1995. The first is from Seattle, the second from Iowa City, and the last two are from Denver.

The Lesson: If you find a unique and quality way to differentiate yourself, you’ll stay around.

Example: I’ve had friends say they want to go to Qdoba tonight to “get the queso,” and Panchero’s tagline is, “It’s all about the tortilla,” and I’m just like, “Mmmmm, Chipotle.”

Now, for the local places (in Omaha). I need to find some (with a vegetarian option).

All in Omaha:

La Guera near 24th and H

New Asian Supermarket near 26th and L

Mediterranean Grocery near 84th and W Center

Indian Grocery and Video near 84th and W Center

Erin, two others, and I had visited the Asian store the day before to pick up ingredients for that evening’s meal – spring rolls and egg plant stir fry – but it was a very quick visit as we arrived 15 minutes before closing. So, as if I didn’t get enough of the intense fish/spices/etc. smell, which, I think I could get used to, we made it the second stop on our tour, and the reason for it.

It didn’t start out as a tour. Instead, I had asked Erin to take me back to the Asian store to show me around, since she’s the one who had taken us there in the first place, and she seemed quite familiar with it. She says it reminds her of San Francisco, where she used to live, so much so that she even likes (maybe longs for) the smell. But in making the plans, she also asked that we stop by La Guera on our way there. I was all for it.

La Guera was well stocked with Mexican diet staples (of course): walls of canned peppers, stacks of fresh cactus, piles of varying tortillas. Star shaped pinatas hanging from the ceiling added real flare to the place. The avocados weren’t cheaper than elsewhere, which Erin was hoping for, and the rest of the goods weren’t priced any cheaper (again, according to Erin). Her test, check the price on the canned chipotle peppers, produced our only purchase.

The New Asian Supermarket is big. Big in relation to the other three stores, but not Baker’s or Hy-Vee big. It had sweet neon signs labeling each aisle (I regret not taking photos). Three-quarters of the store is dedicated to Asian products, while the other quarter is stocked with Mexican products – including mortar and pestles, which Erin bought one (good purchase). The store has some great finds: cheap produce and herbs, tons of noodles, unique candy, and pints of horse blood. (Yes, horse blood. I did not buy.)

Mediterranean Grocery was a delight – an olive delight. The small store in a strip mall made for a surprisingly long experience as I gazed over the many tasty (or what appeared to be) Mediterranean specialties. We decided on some yogurt balls in olive oil (which we mistook for cheese in olive oil), a frozen package of filo, and, as mentioned, olives, the real treat – not pitted and super salty.

Just a couple stalls down in the strip mall was our final stop, Indian Grocery and Video. This was actually my second visit to the store, I had made a stop there my junior year of college when I did an Indian culture presentation in World Literature II. That time, I brought some naan bread and chutney, and it was not good. This time, with Erin’s help, I bought frozen samosas (potato and chickpea) and mango thokku pickle with garlic to top the samosas. It was not only a hit with me, but with everybody at the Superbowl party we attended the next day, too.

Thanks for the ticket (and pics), Nick, we rocked it

It’s been over a week since I saw AC/DC in concert, and I’m still recollecting the energy of the band and the crowd. For me, it started even before the concert, the energy was revived from my memory of listening to AC/DC in my high school’s weight room.

Tucked away in the basement of New Ulm Cathedral High was a small weight room, with over-sized speakers. I can vividly remember entering it to “Back in Black” or exiting it to “Thunderstruck.” It not only served as our pre-season conditioning headquarters to pump iron, but our pre-game venue to listen to hard rock and our coach’s motivational speech.

So, for me: AC/DC = getting pumped up.

The concert solidified this equation. Furthermore, Angus Young solidified it. He put on a show – wearing his classic school boy outfit, he dominated the band’s energy. I don’t know why concert goers go wild when a performer sheds clothing, but Angus made the most of this tactic, shedding all but his shoes and shorts – and he’s 53. According to Wikipedia, the oldest pro basketball player was nearly 46 years old – I imagine a two hour concert is just a bit less demanding on your body than an NBA game. But, I’m giving Angus all the credit. He’s quite the inspiration – keep on rocking.

Angus Young, what an inspiration

"My name is Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you."

A few thoughts after seeing “Milk” last night:

Harvey Milk, focus of the film “Milk,” began his soap box speeches, “My name is Harvey Milk, and I’m here to recruit you.” The first time he proclaimed these words he had a handful of listeners. By film’s end, he had thousands. This massive growth was a result of his and his staff’s tireless efforts to uphold gay rights.

At first, the gay community of San Francisco found a leader to follow in Milk, and then those who had a strong stance on human rights joined his movement. All this happened face-to-face, over the (landline) phone, or by publication, i.e. pre-internet/mobile phone. That’s astounding.

The last time I managed to recruit a crowd without the add of the internet or mobile phone was…I can’t remember, maybe a get-together in high school (class of ’03). (And I’m distinguishing between mobile and landline for obvious reasons: mobile is one person’s phone, landline is shared; mobile has text messaging, landline does not; etc.) Maybe I’m not patient enough to imagine calling many landlines over and over, often not getting an answer, and sometimes getting voicemail – today, I’d mass text message, email, or Facebook event.

But even though the methods of today are more efficient, are they effective? With this in mind, I reflect on a memorable scene from “Milk,” in which one of his staff members, Cleve Jones, picks up a pay phone, calls one supporter, who calls another, while Cleve is calling another, who calls another, etc. – and the screen turns into an expanding grid (“Brady Bunch” intro like) of supporters calling more supporters…and of course they’re all answering there phone. But the point here is that Cleve showed importance to the matter by making phone calls and talking to supporters personally, versus sending a text message or creating a Facebook event.

It could be argued that Cleve’s method was his only option, i.e. he didn’t get to choose to personally call instead of sending a mass mailing of post cards. Irregardless, it was extremely effective, and I think it still would be today – e.g. I’d be more apt to go to a party if I got a personal call versus a Facebook invite, and I’d feel more important receiving a hand-written note versus an email. I could keep going on with examples, and that’s just the point: there are endless ways to recruit a crowd today versus the 70s, in which I can think of less than 10.

One of today’s newest ways, Shout Now, launched a few months ago, and it enables you, at the click of the button, to send voicemail to multiple recipients (like in the 1,000s). This month, I bet another handful of communication services will launch. But the longevity of these will rest on their effectiveness in recruiting the crowd to listen and to use it.

With respect to Harvey Milk and politics, Tuesday’s inauguration might be the best case study in effectively using today’s methods. Obama’s political victory (a minority like Milk) can be partly credited to the use of new ways of communication: the internet (website and Facebook Page) and text messaging (e.g. Biden announcement) – which begets the question: is it the medium or the message that proves the effectiveness? I think it’s a combination of both, but in these two instances, the message outweighs the medium.

Since reading Fortune’s “Web 2.0 is so over. Welcome to Web 3.0,” I’ve been a bit upset about the proclamation. But Bob’s reasoning calmed my nerves (I’ve had a great day since). (And I realize he might just have been reiterating something he read, but he delivered the news to me, so I’m giving him all the credit.)

After summarizing his background as an I.T. employee, Bob gave us an overview of the site he co-founded and launched this past Wednesday, Homeingle.com. Basically, it’s a social network for the typical community organization – Scouts, church group, quilting club, etc. – to identify its members and connect them to each other and similar organizations in the community, and on top of it, connect the organizations with businesses and volunteers willing to either cut them a deal or give them their Saturday. When I asked if he complements or competes with Ning or Meetup, he answered, compete, and explained that Homeingle’s advantage is a strong suite of free products/services that will accelerate an organization.

Homeingle is based out of Kalamazoo, MI, and their current focus is to “homeingle it” (Kalamazoo, that is). Speaking with Bob afterward, he told me that Kalamazoo is home to the most nonprofits per capita in the Midwest, so they’ve got a solid market to tap. From my experience at United Way I’ve found the overlap of community organizations is surprisingly high, so if Homeingle can tackle it they have a reason to be around.

In the second part of his talk, Bob detailed how he started Homeingle, and related the challenges and struggles to entrepreneurship as a whole, with a focus on Omaha (he did his research, I was impressed). This part started with him proclaiming Homeingle a Web 3.0 company, and a PowerPoint slide calling Web 3.0: “Web 2.0 with a service.” The reason for Homeingle’s existence, he described, is not just to connect people, but to bring meaning/benefits to the connection – my e.g. a man in a Bible study group finds another Bible study group in his community, and this one serves juice and rolls, so now he goes to both, and then a book store discovered both Bible study groups and offered them a 15% discount, and their sales grew because of it. And this utility creates a new business model in which a user (person or business) will pay to become apart of it, such as a subscription, pay-as-go membership, etc. – instead of: page views + ads + clicks on ads = revenue.

But why is this Web 3.0? The Fortune article put Web 2.0 six feet under because it doesn’t have a sustainable business model. Fortune’s Jessi Hempel wrote,“When you’re looking at photos from last night’s holiday party on Facebook, you’re probably ignoring that teeth-whitening ad.” Sure I ignore that, I ignore the heck out of it, but I agree with what she wrote next:

“Accel Partners’ Jim Breyer, the largest outside investor in Facebook, remains optimistic. ‘Thus far the home-run outcomes have not yet appeared, but I firmly believe we will see them over the next couple of years,’ he says, explaining he thinks these companies are still in their infancy.”

That is, still in their Web 2.0 infancy.

Bob calmed my nerves after Fortune disturbed them because Bob gave examples of new business models and websites that implement them, such as Angie’s List (which I looked into but refuse to use because they have way too many ads on NPR). But I still label this service Web 2.0, which in essence is “the more users the merrier.” Until something makes me fall of my seat because I’m blown away, I’ll still be labeling it Web 2.0 – simple (and stubborn) as that.

I'll be chipping away all year and sharing my discoveries (which you might have already found yourself).

By the 31st of December you’ll see this list hit 10 discoveries. For now, it’s at a strong three (and by discoveries, I mean I’ve delved into the product and can testify to its strengths). In no particular order:

1. Google Reader – A couple months ago I opened an account, subscribed to a few feeds, and was overwhelmed by the immediate number of “unread stories.” This past week, I mustered the courage to go back in, and as soon as I did I discovered the “mark all as read” – click – now, I don’t feel so overwhelmed, and I’m loving it.
2. Netflix – I mulled over a subscription for the past year, but a gift certificate from my parents this past Christmas finally got me to act on it (thanks mom and dad). And now I’m wishing I would’ve joined sooner. I’ve become a serious fan of film (or am at least attempting to), and my hope is to dive into the classics over the next couple of years.
3. WordPress – I finally kicked myself in the butt and launched a blog, and since I did it on WordPress, I don’t have any excuses to slack off, such as a poor interface, poor stats, poor support, etc. I’m liking it – great stuff!

Instead of amazon.com, I hope to be visiting half.com, especially since I use it on the other side, as a seller. It’s pretty cool to have a new book and be the first to read it, but is the three to 10 dollars more actually worth it? My spending habits aren’t ideal (I’m having too much fun on the weekends and getting too lazy over the lunch hour), but maybe I’ll end up saving $60-$70 by year’s end. That’s my hope.

• dannyaway: simple: girl talk = power of the crowd = web 2.0 12:52 AM Jan 10th from web
• dannyaway: girl talk = life experience #425. amen. 12:52 AM Jan 10th from web

Girl Talk filled the speakers and the crowd filled the stage.

My five friends and I received a warm welcome: a close parking spot just around the corner from the entrance. But turning the corner, the cold hit us: below freezing winds and a line of 50 people deep. Nearly everyone was in high spirits though, which made the wait a bit enjoyable. And nearly everyone seemed to had just stopped by Slowdown’s neighboring business, American Apparel, to pick up a pair of tights or a bright colored article of clothing.

After 15 minutes we made it in the doors, went to grab a round of drinks to warm us up, and bam! Girl Talk graced the staged – what timing. Clad in a maroon hoodie and black sweatpants, Girl Talk leaned over his 21st century instrument, his Panasonic laptop, and started the show. Cheers from the crowd came, my fist went up in the air to start pumping – but the real show hadn’t yet begun. And then it did. 10 seconds after Girl Talk’s beats hit the speakers the real show hit the stage: the crowd. First a girl in black tights and dress stage right, then a guy stage left, then another and another and another – and the collage of hot pinks, greens, blues, etc. jumped up on the stage to accompany Girl Talk in his mad mixing of songs from the 50s to today. And no security stopped them – no violent push back from a big dude wearing a black “SECURITY” or “CROWD CONTROL” T-shirt, which is a never-forgotten bad experience. Instead, a big stage with a big “Come Aboard!” sign on it disguised as a soon-to-be very sweaty, regular looking, middle-aged man behind his laptop.

Girl Talk rocking out on his instrument.

This concert was exceptional because of its significant differences from others. From the start of his show, approximately 10:30, to the end, it was nonstop beats, and I mean, good beats. Of course, the trick of Girl Talk is to take the best beats we’ve heard and mash them into incredible numbers – so a song can bring you the energy to dance and the intensity to bang your head. The show, and the nonstop dancing, ended at 12:30 sharp. There was no encore, but it wasn’t needed, we were satisfied. The crowd was the friendliest I’ve ever emerged myself in – no rude pushing and shoving, instead random dance partners, high fives, and smile exchanges.

Girl Talk personifies Web 2.0. The friendly crowd described above is a direct result of Girl Talk giving us what we wanted – power. Like the ability to express myself in a Facebook profile, Girl Talk gave me the ability to join him on stage and express myself in dance (which I took full advantage of). My (ugly) dance moves and the person’s next to me and the person’s next to that person, etc. created a vibrant community that made it the “stage” everyone wanted to be apart of, or at least observe. Facebook isn’t Mark Zuckerberg’s individual profile or all-around great site layout – it’s the millions of users interacting. The Girl Talk concert was the same – for about 15 min I was on the ground, and then I couldn’t resist the temptation, and I jumped on stage and stayed up there all night, really becoming apart of the community. Girl Talk embraces the power of the crowd like no one else before him. Furthermore, the music of Girl Talk embraces the mashup element of 2.0 and (legal or not) the open-source belief – which makes for some incredible tunes.

The crowd on the floor and the crowd on the stage: the power of the crowd.

After the concert, the six of us loitered around and unexpectedly got the opportunity to meet Girl Talk. Like the founders of 2.0 sites I’ve met, Girl Talk was down-to-earth and appreciative of your support. In fact, I weirdly asked if I could give him a hug, he granted permission, and so I did – I was sad the show was over and the community I was apart of had disbursed. But I left excited for others to discover and become apart of it – as his community grows and his song selection widens, Girl Talk will only get better.

Girl Talk appreciating six of the many. (And I appreciate Jeff Milewski, far left, for the images.)

Based out of San Diego, collarfree.com was founded in January of ’08 as a user-ruled web-based clothing store, i.e. users submit and vote on designs and in-turn Collarfree prints, licenses, and sells it on their site (with royalties given to the designer). Hendricks admitted, however, that as of last November that business model was leading them to the red – and overnight (or at least that sounds thrilling) he concocted a new business plan for Collarfree to join up with major brands, and take their voting model off their site and onto zazzle.com’s to create artistichub.com – a promotional tool for brands, e.g. “Attention Sports Illustrated Readers: Who can design the coolest S.I. T-shirt? Post and vote at si.com/tcompetition.”

So, Collarfree discovered they could add their voting tool to Zazzle, which would leave the printing and shipping to Zazzle – no more worries about stocking inventory anymore! – and they could focus on contracting with leading brands for promo campaigns. Brilliant.

I liken Collarfree’s new business model to a remora, the fish that attach to sharks (I’m not a biology major, thanks Google/Wikipedia).

"Ahh, so nice of you to give me a lift. Now let's go eat some competition."

The remora is that little guy on the shark’s chin (if it had one), looking like a goatee but hoping to grow to the size of Gandalf’s beard.

From Wikipedia, with explanations from me:

“The relationship between remoras and their hosts is most often taken to be one of commensalism, specifically phoresy.”

• “In ecology, commensalism is a class of relationship between two organisms where one benefits and the other is not significantly harmed or gains a benefit,” and furthermore, phoresy is “one animal attaching to another animal for transportation only.”
• Collarfree is attaching itself to Zazzle’s wide selection and efficient production of promo goods as well as it’s highly trafficked site.

“The host they attach to for transport gains nothing from the relationship, but also loses little.”

• This is a bit opposite: Zazzle.com gets more traffic and some free pub, and definitely loses nothing.

“The remora benefits by using the host as transport and protection and also feeds on materials dropped by the host.”

• Protection: Collarfree won’t be stuck with inventory if a client backs out.
• Materials:  Seemingly limitless promo goods possibilities – postage stamps? You betcha.

“There is some controversy over whether a remora’s diet is primarily leftover fragments, or actually the feces of the host.”

• And this is where the Wikipedia entry comparison ends.

But not to be forgotten: the shark – if you can find a way to swim with one, you’ll be just as fierce, and hopefully, devour the competition with it.

P.S. Thanks to siliconprairienews.com for the free ticket to the breakfast – much appreciated.