IFTTT: a website for the forgetful

Everything I needed to relax and forget about all of my stress was packed into a single bag. This meant sun, sand and a self-imposed limit on technology was on the horizon. Coincidentally, my stress-free family vacation fell on the first week of the Olympics. I wasn't too keen on spending my days and evenings parked in front of the TV when there was a whole beach to enjoy and cooler full of Victory Golden Monkey to drink. But how could I miss the Olympics? Then I stumbled on a genius solution. If this then that or IFTTT. It's sort of like baking but for the internet. You can create a variety of IFTTT recipes to make internet life easier. The recipes are a combination of triggers and actions based on various channels you can activate and link to your account. I created a recipe that allowed ESPN (the channel) to push me a text message (the action) every time the U.S. won a gold medal during the London 2012 Games (the trigger). It was wonderful, and I felt so on top of everything. The only problem was holding back the news until my dad caught up and watched the games later that night.

Here are few other useful IFTTT recipe examples I've managed to create:

I'm so busy sometimes the first of the month can zoom past me unnoticed. Then I feel like a huge jerk for forgetting to pay my rent. Now IFTTT has me covered.

I hate how sterile most blog post tweets often sound. But I figured I'd give this recipe a shot. As important as it is, I tend to forget to share my personal blog posts out on social media. Hm. I'm beginning to sense a theme here. I wonder what Forgetful Jones would think of IFTTT?

When it comes to favorite-ing tweets, I can get a little carried away. I mark tweets I want to come back to or download whatever awesome presentation people link to later. This recipe is great in that it keeps all my favorite-ed tweets in a single Evernote note. I can go back to them as often as I need to without digging through Twitter.

I'm in the process of dreaming up a recipe to remind myself to check fantasy football line-ups this season. Any ideas? What other recipes have you created? Generate your own recipes and share them with me!

The brevity of Twitter

Less is more. Make every word count. Feverishly hammered into my brain while in college, these mantras are still encoded in my behavior as a writer. Maybe all the hammering is why I find Hemingway's writing style so appealing. His penchant for brevity, omitting extraneous information to strengthen the story, is something I lust for. I am constantly pushing myself both personally and professionally (death to verbose emails) to keep my writing to the point. This hammering is probably also why Twitter has become one of my favorite social networks. The best stories are always told simply and clearly. Twitter is no different. It forces you to make the 140 characters count. Truthfully, 85 to 100 characters usually do the trick and are much more retweet friendly, but it is downright frustrating to do sometimes. Here are a few tips to keep from sounding social media hack:

• Limit the use of abbreviations. It's almost as disheartening as reading texts like "where r u?" or "LOL." (I have a personal aversion to LOL.) I know we live in the world of shorthand, but sometimes it just sounds bad.
• Use bit.ly links, or a similar shortened link service, to track analytics for your tweets. This allows you to see how engaged your followers are and discern your most popular content.
• Think before you tweet. Given the immediacy of the social network, it's easy to quickly type out a tweet and be done. Think of your readers and audience for a second. Would they care or even be interested?
• Lead with the good stuff. The journalistic inverted pyramid rings true even when it comes to social media. Start off with the most important pieces of information. Then focus on making them short, clever and compelling.
• When mentioning people, use a conversational tone. Nobody wants to talk some business drone. Unless maybe you're a bot.
• Sometimes your tweets warrant hashtags. They add context and often clarify what you mean. Hashtags are often created around events and are searched or followed by others.

25 things I haven't outgrown on my 25th birthday

Yesterday was my 25th birthday. Having thoroughly celebrated during my weekend-long birthday bash, I don’t mind at all that my gift was to sit on a train bound for New York City. I'm actually excited to escape the office and attend two Google seminars this week. The first one starts this morning. I thought of writing about 25 things I'm grateful for or 25 things I've learned to honor my birthday, but neither seemed quite fitting. Instead, I stumbled on this post by the Everywhereist. (After I wrote this, I went back to really read the rest of her post, and it turns out we have a bit in common.) Anyway, I figured I'd share 25 things I have yet to outgrow at the age of 25. One might argue I've barely had time to outgrow anything at the crisp age of 25. Well, go ahead and argue. I'm telling you anyway.

1. The Muppets.
2. Licking the cake batter off the mixer beaters.
3. Halloween.
4. Bond, James Bond. Looks like I'm not the only one.
5. Writing.
6. Cheesecake.
7. Everything and anything Bill Murray.
8. Getting lost in an unbelievably good book.
9. Eating popcorn for dinner. (Thank you mom for the deliciously unhealthy habit.)
10. Traveling everywhere and anywhere that's new and fascinating.
11. Tormenting my little brothers.
12. Staying up late and watching movies. (Except for the insomnia part.)
13. Card games.
14. The internet. (Let's hope I never grow tired of this.)
15. Eating my dad's pancakes on a Sunday morning.
16. Roasting marshmallows over a bonfire, especially while camping at the beach. Nothing beats moments like this.
17. Drawing things with sidewalk chalk.
18. Football.
19. Running. The feeling of all your stress melting away is amazing.
20. Music older than I am – think B.B. King, Buddy Guy, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.
21. Creations like X-Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and ThunderCats.
22. Laughing at inappropriate times, often at inappropriate things.
23. Hiking through the woods.
24. Playing Mario Kart on Super Nintendo.
25. The magic of Christmas.

And of course, I can't forget to mention my great friends and family! Thanks for putting up with me and being so wonderful.

A thing of beauty

I vividly remember receiving my cousin Becky's high school graduation announcement in the mail. Her picture sat on my grandmother's forest green Wurlitzer piano for at least four years. Natural enemies of photographs like sunlight, sulfur compounds and high humidity never managed to degrade her spirited smile. Even with an aggressive case of metastatic melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer, biting at her ankles, she continued to  radiate strength and positivity. Recently, Becky received news that the cancer had spread to her brain. Her resolve is astonishing. To be faced with such adversity only to strike back with even more strength is downright inspiring. Her Facebook updates always include phrases equivalent to "but I'll keep fighting" - squashing any lingering notion of surrender. It certainly makes me take a step back and treasure life a little more.

I might not know her favorite flavor of ice cream. I might also live 2,784 miles away. But that's the thing about family. Those small details are insignificant. We share a familial connection - our paterfamilias. Two of the truest and most intelligent men I know. Plus, our moms? Together, they have a knack for beer pong. All of this is more than enough for me to support her as best as I can - through this post or simple encouraging comments on Facebook. We're family.

Do yourself a favor. Don't use tanning beds. Wear sunscreen. The nebulous threat of cancer isn't worth it. Seriously. Please send whatever positives thoughts and prayers you have to Becky and her family. We all appreciate it.