Bedtime with Rob and Alex

Ep. 21 - the old-enough-to-drink episode

Rob Cottingham — Fri, 6 Jun 2008 14:06:48 -0400

After more than a month of radio silence - life does love to throw the occasional spitball, no? - the drowsy duo are back. And in this episode, inspired by our hiatus, we ask what it takes to give a social media project some staying power.

The five questions we suggest you ask about your project, if you want it to still be around by the time we do our next episode:

Do you feel really passionately about this project?
Do you have a reserve of content (say, 8 to 12 weeks worth of topics, and 4 weeks of actual produced non-time-sensitive content) to cover dry spells?
Do you have the time and staff you need to pull this off?
What kind of audience do you have? Is the size and quality enough to motivate you and your organization?
Do you have the buy-in within your organization to support this?

Podcast feed: here
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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-021.mp3	4.6 MB

Ep. 18: the out-of-order episode

Rob Cottingham — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:01:04 -0400

Just for variety's sake, we take you back to the halcyon days of mid-March for a discussion of what makes a community more than just a collection of little interactions. And it's just as valid now as it was then. Some truths are timeless, huh?

Podcast feed: here
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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-018.mp3	13.58 MB

Ep. 20: the parental-guilt episode

Rob Cottingham — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 13:50:08 -0400

Finding yourself plunking the kids down with something unhealthy - weaponized anthrax, ninja throwing stars, Bob the Builder - just so you can grab some keyboard time? How do you tell when a healthy pastime is turning into unhealthy competition for your children's attention?

We bring in an expert: our daughter, code-named Little Sweetie, who dishes the dirt on how our computer use makes her feel. Some of it's sobering, some of it's encouraging, and it all builds up to five questions to ask about your computer use... plus a bonus five questions from LS.

Podcast feed: here
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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-020.mp3	5.88 MB

Ep. 19: the all-a-twitter episode

Rob Cottingham — Sat, 5 Apr 2008 12:48:52 -0400

Twitter and its microblogging siblings let you follow a stream of one-line updates from your friends. It's pretty much the shortest form of social media out there... but that doesn't stop us from going on at length about it.

Podcast feed: here
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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-0019.mp3	11.28 MB

Ep. 17: the big-jar-of-change episode

Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:51:02 -0400

Alex came home from a talk by Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus, and she was in a soul-searching frame of mind. How does the web support meaningful social change? And is there a particular kind of change the web does an especially good job at?

We cover a lot of terrain in 15 minutes. Here are a few of the signposts we pass along the way:

Your thoughts are always welcome - just leave a comment below!

Podcast feed: here
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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-017.mp3	10.62 MB

Ep. 16: the hexiversary episode

Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:30:33 -0400

It's episode 16 - a significant number in the binary world, and we start with a few words about our own 10th cohabitation anniversary (we believe that's the "Macbook Air anniversary"). Then it's on to parenting and a not-unrelated note, project management. Is it time for you to switch to a new project management system? Maybe we'll help you figure that out.

It was a wide-ranging conversation (we've spared you seven minutes of it, and it still weighs in at over 17 minutes), and lots of links did verily arise:

Skitch
Basecamp
Basecamp's profile of Alex's workflow
Heh... Alex's photo on the Highrise site tour (scroll to the bottom and look for "Suzanna Cavatrio")
Google Sites
I Want Sandy
Toodledo
MailTags

Podcast feed: here
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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-016.mp3	6.03 MB

Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 15: the guest-star episode

Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:02:06 -0400

A special guest star joins us as we ask: how is your (and their) computer use affecting your kids?

Here are some of the links we touch on:

the XO Laptop
Sesame Workshop
the Sesame Workshop video player (check out the still-in-beta message)
Super Why

Podcast feed: here
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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-015.mp3	4.05 MB

Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 14: the way-to-go! episode

Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:57:30 -0400

A little encouragement goes a long way in keeping the Web 2.0 world turning. Alex and Rob talk about how to offer a few kind words to the folks who do everything from posting Creative Commons-licensed photos to creating fantastic YouTube videos.

(Speaking of a few words, kind or otherwise, that comment field down below would probably love to hear from you...)

A little linky goodness from this episode (in which we definitely establish that Rob is a. flossing and b. eating his okra):

Kate Trgovac's amazing Squidoo lens on laptop bags
Rob's speechwriting Squidoo lens
And while we're in a Squidoo frame of mind, some great suggestions for commenting on Squidoo lenses without being all spammy.

Podcast feed: here
Or subscribe with iTunes

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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-014.mp3	5.07 MB

Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 13: the over-participation episode

Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 10:43:23 -0500

This episode finds Alex and Rob with some company in bed: the kids. (Parental discretion advised: contains explicit sounds of complaining toddler.) We talk about what happens when your favourite online community members participate just a little too much... and what you can do about it.

Podcast feed: here
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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-013.mp3	2.14 MB

Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 12: the keeping-up-to-date episode

Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham — Sat, 1 Mar 2008 14:27:31 -0500

This episode, Rob talks about the release of Google Sites... which Alex hasn't had a chance to check out yet, leading her to ask, how do you keep up with the news in your field when everyone's so busy these days?

We come up with six questions to ask about keeping up to date with the latest developments, and propose that Feb. 29 become World Catch-Up Day... when everyone has a chance to catch up on the reading they've missed, and the creation of new content is strictly prohibited.

(As it turns out, we adhered to that last aspect of World Catch-Up Day... but not out of intention. Rob and one of our children came down with a bug, and Friday was spent consoling and caring instead of posting this episode.)

Podcast feed: here
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Bedtime-with-Rob-and-Alex-012.mp3	4.6 MB