For me, it is more fun reading and replying to comments on my blog The Hot Iron than it is writing the blog posts themselves. Where I do enjoy writing, reading comments means someone was interested in something I had to say, for whatever reason, and was compelled to join the conversation. I also enjoy commenting on posts on other blogs for those very same reasons.

Once I have commented on a blog post, I sometimes forget about it, or forget to go back to the post and see how the conversation has evolved, if it has at all. These challenges of following blog comments – and as a result conversations – means I am missing out on something, from alternate ideas to if anyone is interested in the topic at all.

Many blogs have functionality built into it to help users following the conversations on a blog post. One form is email notification, where if you posted a comment and opted-in, you can receive an email every time someone else posts a comment. This is handy as you can follow without having to revisit the Web page. Most all blogs which offer this also allow you to unsubscribe, though I have found some blogs that do not and I continue to get emails from them. I have heard larger, more popular blogs don’t offer this as the potential for large volumes of email could be viewed as spam by some email networks. This is an option on The Hot Iron, and as the blog owner I get emails for every comment posted.

Another way to follow along is by RSS feed. Some blogs have a link to subscribe to the comments of a blog post. This is nothing I have tried myself, as I wondered if I would truly be able to follow along. The opt-out of the RSS feed by unsubscribing is very clean. This is not an option on The Hot Iron, yet. I will try this out and am hoping with using folders in Google Reader it will be easy to manage.

There are 3rd-party services for hosting and managing blog comments. One I have heard of is Disqus. I do not use this myself and have had some reservations about turning over all of my comments to another service I have no control over. I would be interested in hearing from others about how this has worked for them.

The purpose of this particular post is to get ideas, as I am not sure how to best proceed with following comments. Please feel free to share what works – or doesn’t work – for you. And please check the checkbox to get informed on what others say.

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Technology • (9) Comments • Permalink

The decluttering continues! On the heels of selling my XO laptop, I have decided to go analog for my next item, and sell my Canon ELPH 370Z APS Film camera.

This camera was a wedding gift and we used it for about 2 years until we got a digital camera. It has just sat there in its protective case now for several years. It is in good working order and has no noticeable marks. It’s just that it is a film camera, taking the APS/Advantix film cartridges, which allows you to take wide panorama pictures, which I think is the best feature of the APS film.

The bidding starts at one penny. It makes a great gift for that friend or relative who just won’t go digital.

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Diversions • Technology • (1) Comments • Permalink

I will finally be heading west to the next Silicon Prairie Social, which will be held this Tuesday, April 28 at Arrowhead Golf Club in Wheaton, IL.

For someone who works and lives in Chicago, I rarely get out to the ‘burbs, unless I am looking to do some shopping to pay less sales tax! There are, however, quality business and tech networking events outside of the city which easily rival those within the city limits, and this is one of them. And I know I will not be alone, as many others will be trekking west as well as some event sponsors that are from Chicago. Plus I promised Tim Courtney of XNet, who organizes the event, I would make it out there one day, and now I am.

Will I see you there?

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Business • Technology • (2) Comments • Permalink

Happy Belated Earth Day 2009! You either scrambled to do something “green” or wondered what more you can do, as it seems you are living about as green of a life as possible. I took a few moments to think about my day-to-day actions and how they impact the big picture of the world, and one word came to mind – innovation.

The Usual Suspects

As I have previously stated here on The Hot Iron I try to be as aware as possible as to my environmental impact. I wrote what I do in a draft environmental statement for my consulting firm Dunkirk Systems, LLC though I never got any feedback and it still has not reached Dunkirk’s Web site. I also carry a Reisenthel bag with me everywhere I go. Based on these, I feel I am doing as much as I have control over to do.

Other than these actions, making a greater impact takes more work, and that’s where I feel innovation comes into play. When thinking about it more, another thing came to mind – QR codes.

What are QR Codes and Why Should I Care

QR stands for “quick response” and a QR code is a 2-dimensional barcode in the form of a cube. With 2 dimensions, it can store a larger amount of information than a traditional 1-dimensional barcode (e.g. UPC code on a product). As a result, you can store whole sentences of information, Web site URLs, email addresses and even entire contact information records. For example, the accompanying QR code in this post reads, “Happy Earth Day 2009 from The Hot Iron @ thehotiron.com !”

So how would you know that? QR codes are read by a scanner, and the most common form of scanner is a camera on a mobile device with accompanying software. Most Nokia models come preinstalled with a reader, otherwise you can get one from i-nigma among other vendors. Many devices are supported with a notable exception in Palm OS devices.

When the QR code is scanned, the information stored in the QR code is transferred to the mobile device, and you can then process it. If it displays text, you can read and save it. If it’s a URL, you can then browse to it. If an email address, you can send a message to it. If it’s contact information, you can add it to your contacts. This is basic usage of it. With more advanced software, you can do almost anything.

The following is a popular YouTube video from Japan showing how you can get nutritional information for McDonald’s menu items if you can’t see it you can view it here.

Tying The Message Together

As you may guess, QR codes are popular in Asia and in Europe but are still emerging in the US. I see QR codes as an innovative way to effectively communicate and reduce waste and costs at the same time. QR codes only require energy when they are scanned, and by the scanner themselves. They are also more eco-friendly than an RFID tag that require special manufacturing as well as are more cost effective. Here are a few examples of "green" uses that come to mind.

• Subway ads feature a QR code, eliminating the need to have tear-off postcard pads attached to them, or the need to write down information and hard-to-remember URLs.
• For that matter, all advertising should have a QR code with whatever desired call to action the advertiser desires.
• At networking events or conferences, people can wear name badges sporting QR codes with their contact information. This eliminates the need to print and carry business cards, and reduces the time to process information from those cards.
• At the Lollapalooza festival this year in Chicago, replace giving out cards on lanyards with people scanning QR codes to get free songs from iTunes, and they could be downloaded right to your device bypassing the iTunes computer software (with a more robust scanner software).

Where Earth Day continues to be popular, for many it is a day to make symbolic gestures. New, fresh and innovative ideas are needed to reinvigorate it, and QR codes fit the bill. What say you?

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Mobile Technology • QR Codes • Technology • (5) Comments • Permalink

Though I am not a firm believer in Murphys’s Law, there are times when services on the Internet seem to go down or not be available when you need them most. One of them is usually email. Even the split-second unavailability of a server can send people – and companies – into a tailspin in this world with split-second expectations.

As someone who relies more than I should on email, I have dealt with such problems for many years and going on decades. One thing I have learned with email, not to mention most aspects of business and life, is to have a backup plan. When it comes to email, it is always handy to have a backup email account with an alternative service provider than your main email accounts.

Backup email is just that – an account to use when you cannot use your main one. You don’t have to spend big money on this either – a free Gmail or Yahoo Mail account will do the trick. For myself, I have accounts with many of the free providers in the event I am not able to connect with one.

As it is a backup account, the idea is it is available if your primary account isn’t. Therefore it is not a good idea to give out the address unless absolutely necessary. In order to best utilize it, you should keep a backup copy of your contacts database so that you can easily access it if your primary account is down. Even if it is a paper printout and you have to manually type each address, it is much better than not having one. Your backup account can be also used for people to forward email messages they tried sending to your primary account but did not go through for some reason.

Backup email accounts are a key component of your overall technology backup strategy. I’ll be talking more about backups and my own strategy over time.

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Technology • (0) Comments • Permalink