Nothing creates progress like competition. Of course, when we’re talking about all the changes Facebook continues to roll out, many just grumble and shake an angry fist. Sometimes I agree, but today I was actually impressed with a rather large update Facebook is about to roll out to your profile page.
(click to see it full size)
This new Timeline view has things rearranged to display all your posts in a timeline. The cool part about this is that you can jump to any spot on the timeline with the timeline navigation bar on the right of the profile. When in your own profile you can more easily hide content that you don’t want to show up and feature an item by making it span the full width of the timeline.
Another obvious change is the personalization updates, starting with the large header picture at the top. For my profile, I chose a picture I took of Phoenix at night but you can use any image from your uploaded photos or upload a new one.
Additional customization includes the ability to pick and choose what applications, etc to display. Although I need more quality time with this update, I like what I see so far. I don’t spend a lot of time looking at my own profile but I see some usefulness to this layout when viewing other profiles.
Get your new profile early
Want your update early? If you do, there’s a back door in to start playing with it before Facebook rolls it out to everybody next week. One of my favorite YouTubers, Household Hacker made this how-to video.
If you update your profile, be sure to comment below with your Facebook link.
A couple months ago, the household name, Netflix, brought household outrage by eliminating their popular DVD/Streaming package and replacing it with the option to purchase two separate packages at a large price hike. Today, it seems that the wisdom “better late than never” might not apply to the apology email that Netflix sent out to its subscribers and posted on its blog. If the comments on the blog post are any indication, Netflix is in for another round of abuse.
The Apology that was sent out on behalf of CEO Reed Hastings started out feeling very heart-felt, opening with “I messed up. I owe you an explanation.” Hastings follows this with his sincere apology for the way Netflix rolled out the price/package changes:
It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.
After the brief apology, the email goes on to point out that the pricing and package change was part of a much bigger move to turn the DVD side of Netflix into a completely separate company, complete with separate charges on your card if you have both services. The new company, Qwikster, will handle all the physical discs with Netflix freed up to focus on streaming. This leaves me with an obvious question…
What Are You Doing, Netflix?
As a subscriber only to the streaming service, neither the previous nor the current changes leave me with the feelings of betrayal others seem to have experienced, but as a business owner, I’m scratching my head. Netflix built a wonderful monopoly on the DVD-by-mail business and even began a decent transition into streaming. Despite kiosk offerings from RedBox and Blockbuster, Netflix still had the largest selection with a solid customer base. The pricing and package changes damaged customer loyalty, but this feels like Netflix is positioning themselves to move out of the DVD-by-mail arena completely.
At Least There’s Games By Mail Now
One thing I felt positive about in this announcement is that Netflix Qwikster will be offering games by mail as well. Though I’ve honestly never gotten serious enough about the idea of games by mail to sign up for a competitor like Game Fly, I love the idea. Sadly, the thought that I can’t do it through Netflix leaves me in the “maybe some day” area. Frankly, I’ve always had small nervous breakdowns when a disc from Netflix or RedBox looks like someone tried to watch it by scratching it up with a set of keys, so maybe this saves me from a mid-game mental meltdown anyway. You disc-scratchers know who you are.
The Streaming-Only Upside
Because I only subscribe to the streaming service at home, this change may actually present a large benefit to me. I often wonder when Netflix will bring the streaming library up to speed. They have millions of discs for mailing out, but far too often do I find myself searching for something only to find it unavailable for instant watching. I’m crossing my fingers that we’re headed for a larger Instant Watch selection, but I’m not holding my breath.
This post brought to you by ampm. All opinions are 100% mine.
I like dropping into ampm once in a while when I’m on the go. They have all your convenience store needs, including their Thirst Oasis with up to 24 flavors of different fountain drinks. I also like their creative promotions. About a year ago, I was caught playing with my food at ampm when I dove into their secret menu to build my own food creations. This year, the convenience store giant has come up with an even better promotion with some great prizes.
Win A Trip To Vegas And Other Prizes
This year, ampm is running a great promotion that I can’t imagine anyone passing on. Making good use of their Facebook page, they’re offering up tons of prizes in their Too Much Good Stuff Sweepstakes. Here’s a break down of what they’re giving away: Grand Prize: Trip to Las Vegas Periodic Prizes: iPod Nanos iPod Touches iPads MacBook Air Instant Win Prizes: 15,000 bottles of Pepsi Max 10,000 corn dogs
How To Enter
This isn’t one of those contests where you have to do anything creative or get all your friends to join. To enter, you don’t have to post on your Facebook wall about your unmatched love for ampm or even enter the store. Nope. This sweepstakes keeps it simple and fun. Check out how I won in just a couple minutes. Step 1: Like ampm Head to ampm‘s Facebook page and click the “Like” button. Once you like their page, you are able to enter the contest. Fair enough. Step 2: Submit your information As with most contests, you’ll have to share a little information to enter. After entering your name and “deets”, you get to move on to the fun part of the sweepstakes. Step 3: Spin the slots What’s Vegas without slots, right? The slot game is simple. Just click the “Spin” button and watch the wheels spin. If all three match when the wheels stop spinning, you win a prize. The rules say you have to spin the slots to be entered into the Sweepstakes, but who wouldn’t want to spin for a chance to win one of 15,000 bottles of Pepsi Max or one of 9,999 corn dogs? There were 10,000 corn dogs to win, but I’m eating the one that I won, so now it’s just 9,999. Sorry about that. Step 4: Win and collect! If you hit three symbols in a row on the slots, you win instantly, but regardless, you get entered to win any of the periodic prizes and that awesome trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. As you can see in the image below, I won on my first spin and landed a free corn dog. After you win, you can have your winning confirmation code emailed to you for later or just print it right out like I did. That grand prize trip to Vegas includes air transportation and hotel stay for you and a guest. If you win, don’t forget to give me time to pack.
Smartfish sent us their Whirl mouse with Comfort Pivot to take for a spin. The site claims that “the Whirl™ Mini’s patented ErgoMotion™ pivot system makes your mouse feel like it’s ‘floating on air!’” They’re really just trying to point out that the unique design allows it to pivot at a full range of angles for optimal comfort.
It’s All In The Wrist
I spend about 12-15 hours a day on a computer and almost all of that involves mouse interaction. I have my home office, but will often work from the couch, so a wireless mouse for my laptop is ideal. To put this mouse to the test, I made this my couch mouse for a few weeks. My biggest complaint about my current setup is the angle my wrist must be at in order to use a mouse. This problem still exists with the Whirl. To be fair, it exists with any of my mice on the couch and my Whirl mouse did provide some relief.
On my desk top, the Whirl proved to be even more comfortable, but at some expense. I found that with extended use, I was to get a little more used to the pivoting, but not completely. The only problem this creates, really, is that I found myself having to relearn to click without it feeling awkward and I still pivot the mouse forward when trying to click. Despite having to adjust, I found the pivot to be pretty fluid. Moving smoothly in any direction, I never felt like I was forcing it.
Additional Whirl Features
Aside from the pivot feature, the Whirl feels good in the hand and is just big enough to feel normal and just barely small enough to consider it a travel mouse. One thing I liked a lot about this mouse is that the 2.4GHz nano-tranceiver is tiny enough to lose, but tucks neatly away into a storage/battery compartment on the mouse to keep you from losing it. This is not unique to the Whirl, but definitely appreciated.
Not quite as important to this righty is the ambidextrous design, but it’s sure to make it a more comfortable choice for left-handed users. It also comes in several attractive designs for those looking to stray from the boring black mouse. The Whirl uses two AAA batteries and includes an on/off switch, as expected, to save power. I will probably use this as my travel/couch mouse for as long as it lasts me or until something better unseats it.
Conclusion
If you find your existing mouse uncomfortable to use and are willing to adjust to the Whirl, it’s certainly not a bad choice. It works well as a mid-sized travel mouse and is moderately priced at $49.95 on their web site. This is a great mouse for portable use, but I’m not ready to ditch my desktop mouse for it.
Step 2: Submit your information As with most contests, you’ll have to share a little information to enter. After entering your name and “deets”, you get to move on to the fun part of the sweepstakes. 
Step 3: Spin the slots What’s Vegas without slots, right? The slot game is simple. Just click the “Spin” button and watch the wheels spin. If all three match when the wheels stop spinning, you win a prize. The rules say you have to spin the slots to be entered into the Sweepstakes, but who wouldn’t want to spin for a chance to win one of 15,000 bottles of Pepsi Max or one of 9,999 corn dogs? There were 10,000 corn dogs to win, but I’m eating the one that I won, so now it’s just 9,999. Sorry about that. 
Step 4: Win and collect! If you hit three symbols in a row on the slots, you win instantly, but regardless, you get entered to win any of the periodic prizes and that awesome trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. As you can see in the image below, I won on my first spin and landed a free corn dog. After you win, you can have your winning confirmation code emailed to you for later or just print it right out like I did. 
That grand prize trip to Vegas includes air transportation and hotel stay for you and a guest. If you win, don’t forget to give me time to pack. 
