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How To Change Your Twitter Username

Flight of Lesser Sandhill Cranes Is Airborne over the Lillian Annette Rowe Bird Sanctuary at Grand Island, Nebraska, in Early Morning...03/1975

A friend on Facebook mentioned that he created a new Twitter account with the username he now prefers to use. He didn’t know that you can change your existing username and keep your followers without creating an entirely new account.

Here’s how to change your Twitter username and keep your followers without starting over with a new account.

Step 1: Set up a new Twitter account and call it something unrelated to anything such as @hoorayforthis or whatever you want to call it. This is a temporary account.

Step 2: Log out of Twitter.

Step 3: Log into your soon-to-be-old Twitter username/account. For example: @gdbenedetto.

Step 4: Go to twitter.com/settings/account. In the username field at the top, type the name of your new Twitter username. For example: @goddamnglenn

Click the “save changes” button.

Step 5: Log out of Twitter.

Step 6: Log into your temporary account (i.e. @hoorayforthis). Go to twitter.com/settings/account and in the username field at the top, type the name of your OLD Twitter username. For example: @gdbenedetto.

Click the “save changes” button.

Step 7: Go to twitter.com/settings/profile and udpate your profile letting people know you can now be found at your NEW account (that has retained all your followers from the OLD account.) For example: “Oh, hello! I am now at @GoddamnGlenn. Follow me there! #hoorayforthis”.

Click the “save changes” button.

Shazam! You have now changed your Twitter username and kept your followers.

Step 8: Make yourself a cocktail and watch the video for “Bachelor Hours” by the goddamn delightful Parlour Bells.

 

Photo Credit: “Flight of Lesser Sandhill Cranes Is Airborne over the Lillian Annette Rowe Bird Sanctuary at Grand Island, Nebraska, in Early Morning, March 1975″ by Patricia D. Duncan from The U.S. National Archives.

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The Sooz List: Spotify playlists for Boston bands and other favorite music

spotify music listening serviceSpotify has become my favorite music listening service. I love how easy it is to make and share music playlists.

Here are a few of my music playlists. If you’re on Spotify, click the subscribe button to save the playlist so you can come back to it later. This is especially handy for playlists that are updated more than once including my Boston Rocks! playlist.

Nostalgia For The Present— new songs I’ve dug up
Boston Rocks! — songs by bands from the Boston area, 5+ hours
The Tragically Hip — my favorite Hip songs spanning their 20+ year career
Lloyd Cole — one of the most talented singer/songwriters of our lifetime
Everything But The Girl — I’m not as into the newer “remixy” music but this band remains a favorite

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Retweetable and true: A quote from Chris Anderson about doing what you need to do

Pattenburg (Musconetcong) Tunnel

photo of Pattenburg (Musconetcong) Tunnel by Owls Flight Photography

I’ve spent the past month (aka my first month after job layoff) rethinking and remodeling my consulting business and my website projects. It’s as if it was Spring cleaning in July/August! Late last night I saw a tweet by Chris Anderson (you know, that long tail guy) that was retweeted 3093030 times. (OK, maybe only 30303.) I don’t think there could have been a better thing to read at that very moment. In fact, I plan to read it every morning before I dig into the day’s work for the foreseeable future.

In crazy times, put your head down & build something cool. Ignore the noise & follow your nose. If it matters to you, it matters.

Yes!

One of the projects I’ve done some rethinking and remodeling for is Solo Boston. It’s an idea that has had a few different project names over the years since 1999. It seems like this name just might stick! If you work on your own in the Boston area as a freelancer, free agent or consultant — join us. The monthly lunch I hosted for many years is coming back to life in September. The motto of Solo Boston is “solo but not alone.” Indeed!

Photo of Pattenburg (Musconetcong) Tunnel by Owls Flight Photography on Flickr.

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Seventeen years later

Nebraska road in Scribner

Nebraska road in Scribner

What’s happened since I last wrote a blog entry at sooz.com several months ago? I started a new job as web editor at the Phoenix, became an even more crazed super fan of OldJack (ammmmazing Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble performance!) and as of this month, I’ve now spent seventeen years in Boston. Seventeen!

It was seventeen years ago this month that I packed as much as I could in three bags, got on a plane and left Nebraska for Boston. I wish I had a photo of my stellar packing skills: everything from clothes, some plates I stole from the college cafeteria, cd player, posters, etc. It was supposed to be a summer trip and then I’d return to Nebraska and finish college. Except I didn’t move back and I never finished college. That “Internet thing” happened and I kept getting jobs working in web/tech. I also fell in love with the Boston rock music scene — and here I am, seventeen years later.

Everyone always asks how I ended up in Boston. Most assume I went to college here.  When I was a junior at Doane College (Crete, NE), a friend told me we had to get something called an email address. I had no idea what she was talking about. Eventually I figured out what it was and found email lists for fans of bands I was into at the time. I made friends online — one in particular through the 10,000 Maniacs mailing list and then several more on a BBS called ISCABBS.

Everything in my life changed when I got online on whatever day that was in September of 1993. The house I stayed in for the summer was a room sublet via a friend on ISCABBS who was studying abroad. Everything was arranged online and fortunately when I arrived it wasn’t a cruel joke — I actually had a place to live.

Every day since then has been an adventure.

 

[The photo is a dirt road outside of Scribner, Nebraska, near where I grew up.]

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Reflections on ten years of sooz.com

I bought the sooz.com domain towards the end of 2000 and this website came to life in 2001 thanks to web designer and developer Makiko Itoh. Maki was writing a book about Javascript at the time and used the work she did on my website to test some of the content for the book. Fast forward to 2011, and the sooz.com website is ten years old. Crazy, yet true.

Here are some of the blog articles I’ve written during the past ten years. Ah, nostalgia!


“10” photo by Kirsty Hall

2001

December 7, 2001: “Independents Day” panel at South by Southwest Interactive Festival in 2001 with Nick Finck, Dori Smith, Evan Williams and Kelly Abbott. This was my first trip to Austin for SXSW and my first time being on a panel + moderating. I think there may have been 500 people at the festival back then.

2002

December 6, 2002: My music blog Exploit Boston! came to life in 2002.

2003

January 18, 2003: 30th birthday brunch with friends at Henrietta’s Table in Harvard Square. There is not likely to be a better place to have brunch on the planet.

March 21, 2003: “It Can’t Rain All The Time” — the day after I received the news that my mom died very suddenly.

May 31, 2003: To celebrate relationship anniversary happenings, (ex-boyfriend) Michael and I saw Cowboy Junkies at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA

June 24, 2003: Soozle, the official summer cocktail of sooz.com

2004

January 20, 2004: Birthdays and Howard Dean (and Joan Jett). Lots of Howard Dean supporters greeted him at crazy o’clock in New Hampshire after he returned from the “Dean Scream” in Iowa.

2005

May 19, 2005: Hello, WordPress! This was the day I moved sooz.com from Movable Type over to WordPress.

2006

July 7, 2006: Bang Camaro’s first show (at the Paradise Rock Club). The day their epic rock and roll was officially unleashed.

November 25, 2006: David Drucker’s op-ed in the L.A. Times about relocating to Canada

2007

October 3, 2007: Music Video Nostalgia: 1986-1994

2008

January 13, 2008: Podcamp Boston 2 Photos. I was a co-organizer of Podcamp Boston in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

April 3, 2008: Bloggers @ A.R.T. I organized three blogger nights with the American Reperatory Theater in Cambridge. This was a blog entry about the second collaboration that connected bloggers with theater.

October 10, 2008: Mandy Moore was a surprise guest of Mike Viola at the Lizard Lounge. And then she blogged about me.

2009

Marcy 19, 2009: TAZA chocolate Factory Tour: how the cocoa winnowing machine works

June 21, 2009: Photos of silver performance artist in Harvard Square

2010

January 8, 2010: Amanda Palmer and Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo) perform together at Lizard Lounge

March 18, 2010: Video and interview of Boston poet Mignon Ariel King on WGBH’s Basic Black

August 29, 2010 Photo and recipe for Post Punk Kitchen’s vegan tofu scramble — I became vegan on March 18, 2010 (the day after I returned to Boston from SXSW Interactive Festival). This is one of many tasty recipes on the Post Punk Kitchen website.

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TUT — a note from the universe

Several months ago Linda Viens clued me into the website for TUTs Adventurers Club. When I first checked out the site, I rolled my eyes. A lot. But Linda is one of my favorite people of all time, so I decided to give the daily email newsletter a chance. It’s definitely a little cheesy at times, but the daily tidbits are awesome. Here’s what it sent me today:

If you could actually stand in someone else’s shoes, Susan, to hear what they hear, see what they see, and feel what they feel, you would honestly wonder what planet they live on, and be totally blown away by how different their “reality” is from yours.

You’d also never, in a million years, be quick to judge again.
Just sayin’
The Universe

The closing of each email is always the same: “Thoughts become things … choose the good ones!”

Check out the Facebook fan page for Linda’s band, Angeline, too!

Photo of plastic green frogs by Thomas Hawke.

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Social media and the WBCN Rock N’ Roll Rumble

The Lights Out with Rumble host Anngelle Wood on night six of the WBCN Rock N Roll Rumble Preliminaries
The Lights Out with Rumble host Anngelle Wood on night six of the WBCN Rock N' Roll Rumble Preliminaries. TLO won the night and will compete in the semi-finals on April 16.

The Boston Herald has a story by Michael Marotta about the impact that the internet and social media has played in this year’s WBCN Rock N’ Roll Rumble. I couldn’t agree more! But what is up with The Boston Herald only linking to one website in the story? They mention Boston Band Crush and Ryan’s Smashing Life but don’t link to each website.

I skipped the Rumble the first 13 years I lived in Boston and first checked it out a few of the nights in 2007. Last year, SoozFavorites Girls Guns And Glory competed (and then won) so I went to the two nights they performed plus maybe one more.

Mostly whenever I go to rock shows to photograph I just do my thing and leave. It’s not that I’m not a sociable person; but for whatever reason, at concerts, I always feel a lot more shy about saying hi to bands and other people that are there.

But this year’s Rumble has been an entirely different experience for me. After deciding to turn the lights out at Exploit Boston! (RIP 2002-2009), I collaborated with Ryan Spaulding who runs the popular music blog Ryan’s Smashing Life: his words plus my photos and video. We had an exhaustive blast covering the six nights of preliminaries last week. I still can’t believe I saw twenty-four bands on six nights (one night in the middle was designated as “day of rest”)! Mike, Sophia and the rest of the gang at Boston Band Crush have also shared speedy coverage of each night of the Rumble with lots of tweeting and video roundups.

The rock photographer’s cabal

Joe Harrington, Johnny Arguedas and I were at all six preliminary nights shooting photographs. Other photographers that were there for some of the preliminaries included Just Bill, Nicole Tammaro and Kelly Davidson.

Tweet, tweet, tweet

So many people are using Facebook and Twitter to share tidbits, accolades, pointers to their blog stories, photos, etc. (Not just “social media experts!!”) Everyone felt like they were part of something that was bigger than just four hours at a rock club.

A good host and organizer makes a huge difference!

Of course, there’s also this year’s new host, WBCN DJ for local music show Boston Emissions, Anngelle Wood. She is a long-time music tastemaker and very well respected within the Boston music community. Anngelle did a great job wading through lots of Boston bands to select twenty-four that would play in this year’s 31st Annual Rock N’ Roll Rumble. Her Boston Emissions cohort Shawn Sixx has also played a part in making this year’s Rumble so awesome.

Be there for the semi-finals on April 16-17 at The Middle East Downstairs

If you are in Boston on April 16-17, you really owe it to yourself to attend both night’s of the Rumble semi-finals at The Middle East Downstairs. Avoid the online fees and stop by The Middle East on Mass Ave in Central Square to pick up your tickets in person or buy them online through Ticketmaster.

Bands playing in the semi-finals on April 16th: Have Nots (9:30-10:00), Sarah RabDAU and Self-Employed Assassins (10:30-11:00), The Lights Out (11:30-12:00), Gene Dante and the Future Starlets (12:30-1:00).

Bands playing in the semi-finals on April 17th: Destruct-a-thon (9:30-10:00), The Luxury (10:30-11:00), The Dirty Truckers (11:30-12:00), Gravehaven (12:30-1:00).

Recap of reviews, photos and videos of the six nights of Rumble preliminaries

Ryan’s Smashing Life: night one, night two, night three, night four, night five, night six

Boston Band Crush: press coverage roundup

Sooz Photography (that’s me!): Photo sets for each night of Rumble preliminaries

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If Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech Was Written Mad Libs Style

I saw this mad libs inspired Barack Obama Inauguration Speech generator on Doc Searls’ blog. Here’s my version featuring hippos, toes, carpenters and slackers.

My fellow Americans, today is an awesome day. You have shown the world that “hope” is not just another word for “blizzard“, and that “change” is not only something we can believe in again, but something we can actually zoom.

Today we celebrate, but let there be no mistake – America faces epic and mega challenges like never before. Our economy is amazing. Americans can barely afford their mortgages, let alone have enough money left over for hippos. Our healthcare system is stunning. If your toe is sick and you don’t have insurance, you might as well call a carpenter. And America’s image overseas is tarnished like a macbook couch. But zooming together we can right this ship, and set a course for Watertown.

Finally, I must thank my stellar family, my fabulous campaign volunteers, but most of all, I want to thank slackers for making this historic occasion possible. Of course, I must also thank you, President Bush, for years of moving the American people. Without your awesome efforts, none of this would have been possible.

Post your brilliant speech in our community message forum and it might get featured on Atom.com.

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Media Soup in D.C. for Obama Inauguration Festivities

Joshua Fleetwood who I worked with at BostonNOW last year, has a new website: Media Soup, that came to life this week. He and his cohorts are in D.C. shooting videos and photos during Obama Inauguration festivities.

What is Media Soup?

Media Soup is a multimedia web site featuring editorial stories – large and small – produced through the collaborative efforts of professional journalists of all sorts, including photojournalists, videographers and writers. The goal of Media Soup is to allow journalists to tell the stories they want in the format they think gets the message across.

Video: Pedi cab drivers provide transportation alternative during inauguration

Here’s the video Josh put together interviewing Pedi cap drivers who are in D.C. from around the country during Obama’s inauguration. Pedi cabs have been given special permission to go where cars and taxis cannot.

See a bigger version of the pedicab video on Media Soup’s website.

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Boston Bloggers Summit Thingy on Saturday March 10th

You know what? I still love the Internet. Love it. Love it! The other day I got a message in my Vox blog message center from someone named Regina. She found me while she was poking around Vox looking for likeminded humans who write about Boston, music, etc. She’s local and it seemed odd we hadn’t already met. Then we find out my former roommate is a good friend of hers and la la la. I love the small worldness of the web when it connects you with people in your own backyard.

It turns out Regina is not only awesome but also working on a new newspaper+website startup called BostonNOW. Their plan is to publish a newspaper that includes both pro and citizen journalists plus a website, too. If you’re a blogger curious about what they (and maybe you) are going to be up to, join the conversation at All Asia Cafe in Central Square on Saturday, March 10th from 11-2. They’ve got an RSVP page on Upcoming.org and a blog with more info.