JediWright.com

As stated on Twitter previously, it’s amazing how many lurkers there are out there. Not sure what the formula would be, but seems an easy 2-3x as many than those who actively comment on blog, Twitter and other posts.

It’s all well and good that people do what they do (or don’t do), I’m just generally curious and eager for some dialogue and feedback from my contacts. In light of this, I’ve begun recently to try and participate more with other people’s content. And even if it doesn’t change much with regards to this, I can enjoy my own output to them as I know what it means to receive it.

Time for some list-making with my first, Top 10 list of the new year.

This is a Top 10 of all my favorites, spanning any and every category. From favorite travel destinations, films, books, websites, events, jobs, and anything else that tickles my list-making fancy. Also, it should be noted that it’s been posted in no particular order.

1. Favorite Trip
I flew into Barcelona after my first European trip and job with The Do LaB in Portugal and did some sight-seeing with Patricio and finally got to see Amanda, meet her husband and otherwise catch up with her life of 10-years there in Europe.

2. Favorite Job With The Do LaB
I think my favorite job with these guys this past year was the one for SpeakerCraft. Everyone kicked ass for weeks in the pre-fab, load-in and setup in Denver at the Cedia Convention. That job was the most taxing in terms of details we’ve yet done and it really showed. It was so much work but in the end it turned out amazingly beautiful.

3. Favorite Live Show
Nine Inch Nails’ show in Baltimore, MD at the Virgin Music Festival was definitely my favorite show of the year. I always love Trent Reznor’s music and his live performances with a band are one of the best. Plus, I got to bring Tristan and my old high-school friend Jesse Buck along too; it was both their first time seeing NIN live.

4. Favorite New Web Service
I think definitely without a doubt, that Posterous was the coolest new web utility service. I discovered it late in the year but have been thoroughly enjoying its use ever since.

5. Favorite New Book
My favorite new read of the year had to be “From Program To Product – Turning Your Code Into A Saleable Product” by Rocky Smolin.

6. Favorite Gift
Definitely without a doubt was Tristan’s handmade pregnant belly cast she made for me at Christmas.

7. Favorite News
No it wasn’t Obama winning, it was the unforgettable news that I was going to have my first child and a son at that. He’s growing nice and strong and due in 3 weeks.

8. Favorite New Album
This is a bit tough but would have to say Booka Shade’s “Movements”. Then Santogold’s self-titled album, followed by Death Cab’s “Narrow Stairs”.

9. Favorite New Movie
Hmm, another toughie but I’m gonna’ have to say Iron Man I think. Tropic Thunder, Batman: The Dark Knight, Speedracer, and a few others were all great too, but I think Iron Man was one of the most well done comic book adaptations yet, and a great first-time effort in one from Robery Downey, Jr.

10. Favorite Activity
Blogging has proven the most enjoyable activity that I’ve pursued this year. My creative pursuits have kind of been up and down a lot over the last few years so blogging has helped to stabilize and fulfill the need for a healthy, consistent outlet of expression. Plus, I received my first check in related advertising.

I just took a quick look and count of the year in blogging here on my blog and see that I’ve posted 97-times (not including this…my 98th . Not bad, not super-prolific, but still a decent count for my first determined year to represent my life, times and thoughts here consistently.

I’m very eager to press onwards in 2009 with all the new mediums I’ve enabled over the year: Flickr, Instinct phone, Posterous, etc.

I’ve still got a few things to configure but am comfortable moving ahead with what I’ve got enabled, as they stand now.

My biggest goal here in the coming year is to really widen the breadth of content I post here. I’ve really wanted to amp up my writing, in terms of detail, content, etc. and have yet to break through to another level of writing. And on a related note, hope to cultivate a greater following in readership and commentators.

I also hope to increase the size of my Adsense checks and the frequency with which they arrive.

I’m confident I’m on the right track building my readership and cultivating greater skill and interest here. Connected social network outlets like my Facebook and Tribe profiles are furthering my efforts in this.

As blogging and its culture, technology and general popularity continue to grow and evolve, I’m confident that I’ll continue on the same path. I look forward to the journey.

My original Facebook profile was deactivated when I created a second account with my original childhood nickname.

Since I’d switched to going by Jedi (a given nickname) after moving to LA, I wanted a profile in my original given nickname of Jed, so I started the 2nd account. Unfortunately, I overlooked a small but major detail in that Facebook doesn’t allow the same email to be associated with more than one account. Upon creating this account, they disabled my previous account and now won’t let me reactivate it.

This isn’t all surprising to me considering the story going around that Facebook is a government-run effort to collect as much data as they can. Whether or not that’s true is debatable but their actions as evidenced here in my case, uncannily resemble a government-like response. I have literally scores of similar profiles at other sites and never once has anyone ever stated you can’t have more than one account, require that you only open an account with a legal name, or require a valid I.D. to prove you are who you claim to be.

Here’s their first response to my support request; it took them over a week to respond:
–
Facebook does not allow users to sign up with certain names that may be fake or associated with fake accounts. While we realize this verification method may prevent some users with legitimate names from initially registering, we feel this policy is currently the best method to prevent against malicious and fake accounts on the site.

We can help you sign up for an account, but we will need additional information. Please send a scanned image or digital picture of a government-issued ID (e.g. driver’s license) to idrequests@facebook.com in order to confirm the accuracy of your name. Also, make sure you black out any personal information that is not needed to verify your identity (e.g. social security number). Keep in mind that we will permanently delete your ID from our servers once your name has been verified.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but you will be unable to sign up until you provide us with a scanned image of a government-issued ID. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation,

Sadie
User Operations
Facebook

While trying to create a redirecting profile under one of my old nicknames, I inadvertantely shut down or disabled my original profile under “Jedi Wright”.

Now I’m waiting to hear back anything from Facebook on the matter. Hopefully they don’t tell me that it’s been deleted and there’s nothing they can do about it – they should be able to retrieve it from their daily backups.

If not, then I’m going to have recreate my profile from scratch. What a chore that would be.

I’ve finally configured my Flickr account for blog posting.

This is proving to be handy and a rich source for material as I shoot pics more often than anything else, creatively speaking, these days. So if you notice a change in format in my blog posts, or see alternating posts with and without images, this is why.

Incidentally, you may also notice some weirdness in the left nav bar where categories are mingling in with my blogroll. Still trying to sort this out at the moment…