Kieran Hawe's Digital Dialect

My Top 10 iPhone Apps

Kieran — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:54:11 +0000

What better thing to do on a rainy day then post my current top 10 iPhone apps!

The Weather Channel - I really wish I became a meteorologist. I could seriously look at weather all day long.
TwitterFon - still my favorite Twitter app
Google Apps - Gmail, Google Maps, Google Calendar…no surprise here
Facebook - losing ground
NY Times - not just great content but a great app
Mint.com - managing mymoney
Voice Memos - my new favorite app
iMob Online - not sure why I am still playing this game
Trapster - very useful for the long road trips we have been going on
Pandora - Need my music

On the subject of iPhone apps - my 2 new favorite games are Paper Toss and Ragdoll Blast. Give them a try and be prepared to become addicted. Also, am on the fence about getting the new iPhone 3gS - the Video capability is killer but not sure I am ready to shell out the money - I will eventually, but just not now.

50 Greatest Rock Bands of All-Time

Kieran — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:46:56 +0000

While listening to my iTunes collection (6,000+ songs and counting) I started thinking about how I would rank the greatest rock bands of all-time. Ranking such a thing is obviously all about personal taste…but I am going to try and put personal preferences aside and create a impartial of a list as possible.

One note - this is the top 50* greatest rock BANDS of all-time, therefore individual artists are left out (e.g. Bob Dylan, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, etc). Also, my definition of a “Rock Band” is fairly liberal…

50* Greatest Rock Bands of All-Time

Led Zeppelin
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
The Grateful Dead
The Who
Pink Floyd
Nirvana
Van Halen (With David)
The Doors
The Eagles
U2
The Clash
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Queen
Creedence Clearwater Rival
Black Sabbath
The Police
Metallica
Red Hot Chili Peppers
AC/DC
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
The Ramones
The Allman Brothers
Sex Pistols
Rush
The Kinks
The Band
KISS
Pearl Jam
Aerosmith
R.E.M.
Deep Purple
Cream
Rage Against the Machine
Sly and the Family Stone
The Velvet Underground
The Byrds
Journey
Stone Temple Pilots
Guns n’ Roses
ZZ Top
Foreigner
The Animals
YES
Tool
Nine Inch Nails
The Cure
Boston
Iron Maiden
Motorhead
Judas Priest
Alice in Chains
Living Colour
Audioslave
Motley Crue
The Misfits
Jethro Tull*

*Actual list is 56 but top 50 sounds so much better

What Facebook URL did you choose / get?

Kieran — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:11:53 +0000

A lot of hype surrounded the ability to choose your own custom URL for Facebook - do you go with your name, a good SEO keyword or something else? Once I heard about this a few weeks back I put some serious thought into my own personal choice. In the end I went with my default social media profile handle - khawe - with the reason of keeping consistency.Granted, if I wasnt traveling when the option went live I probably would have tried to grab a killer name like “online marketing” or something similar.

What did you choose?

Crunchpad Demo Video

Kieran — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:25:47 +0000

If the planned Crunchpad works and is as cheap as promised this will be the next big thing. The world needs something bigger then an iPhone, smaller then a netbook and more features then the Kindle.

Conan does a Twitter Tracker segment

Kieran — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:58:22 +0000

You know you have gone mainstream when Conan O’Brien makes fun of you. How much press can Twitter get?

“SWEEEEEEEET TWEEEEEEEEEEEETS!”

Have I failed as a parent?

Kieran — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:17:04 +0000

If there was one thing I knew I could give to my children it would be the love of great music. Since they were born they have listened to all-time greats like Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, The Allman Brothers, The Beatles, BB King and many many more. In the back of my mind I am thinking one of my kids have a real shot at being a serious musical talent…I mean with my taste in music the odds are with me right?

Yeah.

So, my 2 year old son has started singing the new Kelly Clarkson song about how she “doesn’t hook up”….of course my son has no idea what the lyrics mean but still, have I have failed as a parent? Of all the great music he has listened to over the years he chose to pick up a song he heard maybe a couple times on the radio while driving with my wife?

KELLY CLARKSON!!!!!!

Remember when skateboarders made crappy movies?

Kieran — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:36:18 +0000

I was big into skateboarding back in the day and by back in the day I mean the mid to late 80’s. I had my Lance Mountain board, bought the skateboarding videos and pretended like I knew how to do tricks beyond the basics. I think I was more into being a skateboarder then actually skateboarding…youth, what can I say. Well, the other day I stumbled across this video put out by Powell Peralta and the bones brigade some time in the mid 80’s. It has all of the best skateboarders of the time “acting” and skating. The movie is brilliant in how crappy it is and is worth watching just for the killer 80’s styles.

With that being said I bring to you “Powell Peralta - The Search For Animal Chin” Part 1…of 8.

How To Make A Winning (Video) Resume

Kieran — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:40:56 +0000

In this time of economic uncertainty, millions of people are without a job and are actively searching for their next career opportunity. The problem is for every good job their are numerous qualified, sometimes overqualified, candidates all vying for the hiring managers attention. So how do you stand out? Don’t just send a couple of boring pages of your work experience - send them something they will be sure to remember. A video resume.

A video resume will not only help you stand out from the crowd but, when done right, I guarantee they wont forget you. So what should a video resume look like? What should you talk about? How should you act? All those questions and more can be found in the below example of the best video resume…ever.

My 50 / 20 Investing Rule

Kieran — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:04:43 +0000

I am no where near an investing professional of any sorts, I have always been and will always be small time when it comes to the stock market. However, the buying and selling of individual stocks is something I have always enjoyed and will continue to do as my personal finance situation allows.

Over the years I have read many books, listened to many experts and devised numerous investing formulas that usually didn’t pan out. My problem is that I would get emotionally tied to a stock - meaning if it went up I always thought it could go up more and if it went down I always thought it would go back up. This strategy I followed for most of my investing life has resulted in some good gains and some awful loses. A few months ago I decided to scrap my existing investing strategy and try something new - what I call the 50/20 Automatic Investing Rule. The basic premise, and I do mean basic, is that if a stock goes up 50% I sell and if it goes down 20% I sell. However the key part of this, considering my investing history, is that it is an automatic process, not manual. The reason for it being automatic is two-fold, first I don’t have time to sit and watch a stock ticker all day and secondly it removes the temptation to see how high it will go.

So why 50/20? I would love to say it is based off of a complicated algorithm…but of course it isn’t. Basically I took my investing history and the charts of the stocks I have always been watching and combined that with my own comfort level. A 50% return on investment anyone would be happy with and I can live with a 20% decline. Keeping in mind we are dealing with 4 figures, selling at a 50% ROI isn’t going to make you rich…at least right away. If you keep to this strategy and of course keep more on the up 50% rather than the down 20% you can accumulate some serious bank over time.

Here is an unrealistic example that doesn’t take into account losses or the actual task of finding stocks that give a 50% return each time. But, it does show how to go from a little to a lot.

Starting with $1,000…

$1,000
1 $1,500
2 $2,250
3 $3,375
4 $5,063
5 $7,594
6 $11,391
7 $17,086
8 $25,629
9 $38,443
10 $57,665
11 $86,498
12 $129,746
13 $194,620
14 $291,929
15 $437,894
16 $656,841
17 $985,261
18 $1,477,892
19 $2,216,838
20 $3,325,257

Now of course there are exceptions to the rule - penny stocks, stocks that give a good dividend or ones you are SURE will go up 500% by the end of the year

Bottom line is avoid being greedy and try not to lose your shirt.

Thomas & Friends Bubble Bath Can Cause Urinary Tract Irritation?

Kieran — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:07:09 +0000

So I have 3 very young kids (2 1/2 and twin 9 month olds) - therefore bath time is a huge deal in our house. Last week, while giving my son a bath, I decided to read the back label of the “Thomas & Friends Whistlin’ Berry Scent Bubble Bath” that my son uses religiously. Lets read together what the “caution” section of the packaging says shall we…

USE ONLY AS DIRECTED. EXCESSIVE USE OR PROLONGED EXPOSURE MAY CAUSE IRRITATION TO SKIN AND URINARY TRACT. DISCONTINUE USE IF RASH, REDNESS OR ITCHING OCCURS. CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN IF IRRITATION PERSISTS. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN EXCEPT UNDER ADULT SUPERVISION. DO NOT APPLY ON LIPS OR AROUND EYES. AVOID EYE CONTACT. IF CONTACT OCCURS, IMMEDIATELY FLUSH WITH WATER. THIS PRODUCT HAS BEEN REVIEWED FOR SAFETY.

Is this a kid bubble bath or something used to torture someone? The line that really bothers me is how prolonged exposure may cause some serious issues…ummm what does prolonged exposure mean exactly? Don’t kids like to hang out in the bath tub until they become a prune?

Well since the last line clearly states that this product has been reviewed for safety I am sure everything is perfectly fine…right?