Yesterday on FriendFeed, I brought up a question about private feeds, I simply didn’t understand why someone would join a social sharing site, and restrict people from seeing if they share interesting things prior to subscribing… I saw a dilemma.

During the course of the conversation a number of people brought up an excellent point, something I had long forgotten about, even though it happened to me not 3 months ago:

I have a private feed. I switched it a few weeks ago as certain people at my work kept taking what I post out of context and spreading falsehoods. Plus I do post sometimes at work and while my boss is cool with it, other people have reacted poorly to it… - Johnny Worthington

It’s easy for me, as a web developer, to forget that some people still don’t understand the Internet, nor do they basque in all its glory. I was in a performance evaluation meeting at a previous job wherein my boss quoted my twitter time line, wherein my cynicism and sarcasm was taken to be literal and caused “trust issues”. Ultimately, the mere fact that I was being stalked online by a professional, especially a superior, was shocking. The result was a few things, the realization I was working for the wrong type of person was one of them. From my point of view, coworkers who choose to misinterpret and leverage stuff like Twitter or FriendFeed are about as immature and misinformed as the guy in the office that brings up personal things that go on after hours with co-workers to clients, in front of superiors, in meetings the following week.

Stalking co-workers openly online, whatever; it’s bound to happen when people openly use the web for communications and keeping in touch with the various types of people they know and network with. The line is crossed when those things are brought up in efforts to undermine some one’s status in productivity? Things need to change.

Personally, I browse the web all day looking for new technologies, paying attention to the news, and when something strikes my fancy? I share it. I could care less if it happens between 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday. Jobs are, more often than not, held staring at a screen all day. Learning, laughing and sharing is what the Internet is all about and if you can’t partake in that while you work for fear of being bullied by coworkers and superiors?   Some thing’s wrong. Especially if you’re busting your ass more than most, and you’re getting your work done on time.

It touches a nerve when people in a work place limit growth, either when I hear about it or witness it first hand. Maybe I’m taking it a bit far here, but, if someone wants to keep me in a bubble while the world passes by at the speed-of-now online, while I rot in a cubicle and decipher some TPS report… That someone can go to hell.

Feed Publishing’s been a tricky thing to tweak on FriendFeed to reduce the noise I spread to Twitter. I like sharing my activity on Twitter on the web, but like interacting with the web over various interfaces … I guess you can say I’m a tad bit of an Internet addict.

After some careful mapping and planning, I came up with a simple mess of how I do things, perhaps it’ll help you if you’re doing the same:

1. Select: Link to source site instead of FriendFeed conversation (does not apply to comments) - This is most important. If you’re sharing a link on FriendFeed to Twitter, share the link, not the FriendFeed post.
2. Include: Entries I post in public rooms
3. Include: Comments that I make on public FriendFeed entries
4. Exclude: Public FriendFeed entries that I ‘Like’ - this was a simple choice, I tend to “Like” a lot more entries than I comment on, but also - I use the ‘Like’ feature on FriendFeed primarily as a mini-bookmarking system. I’ll return to a post later when I have more time to get into it & either leave my Like or remove it based on whether or not I actually like it, to stay truer to the feature.
5. Select Post Entries from - The services I’ve selected below:

• Uncheck: FriendFeed - I don’t use FriendFeed as a sounding board, I’ll either tweet, tumble, or blog about something depending on how much I have to say about something (like this). All services of which go to FriendFeed just fine. If and when I start getting comments on my posts, I may reconsider, but right now - it doubles up FriendFeed posts & comments in the time line and that’s unacceptable to me.
• Blog RSS - For the blog or blogs you do have - there’s no reason to not share with people when you make a new post. This site and Sociosophy are listed under my FriendFeed. Even though Sociosophy has it’s own twitter profile and FriendFeed, that network is ac; I consider this “redundancy” an acceptable form of noise. I’ll even retweet things from Socisophy at times - which is deliberately noisy, and if that bothers people, I have yet to hear about it.
• Bookmarking Services - If you use 7 bookmarking services and bookmark everything seven times, pick one of these services to share to Twitter, preferably the one that you comment/review the link on, so it’ll have some substance as to why you’re sharing it.
• Disqus - Using Disqus is great, I hear there are drawbacks, but I have yet to actually see them. Especially when interacting with comments on your own blog, let’s face it, not everyone in the world is looking over my site (or yours) for new comments, so broadcasting that interaction, depending on frequency, isn’t a bad thing either.
• Calendar/Events Sites - If you’re really into letting people know where you are and what you’re doing, nothin’ says “stalk me” like making sure you’re entire echo chamber knows exactly where you are on nights you’re RSVP’d for an event someplace.

YouTube and video sites I avoid, for a few reasons, but mainly because of how I use them. Not Being a vlogger - primarily, most of my YouTube content comes from Qik.com while streaming from my N95, now N96 for the time being. Well, Qik.com tweets when I’m live… to minimize duplication, turning that off was a step in the right direction.

Of course this doesn’t cover all the bases, but the main trick is, turning off the FriendFeed entries, but include comments from Public rooms/entries. Also, be wary of including services that lean on Twitter, such as Qik, BrightKite, 12 seconds, other microblogging services… and pretty much anything that allows you to post your interactions to Twitter. Seems sort of “common sense” of “common practice” the more I think about it, but with some small attention to details and knowledge of your account communications? Streamlining this feature within FriendFeed is most useful and thus most excellent.

Once you get past the 5 mega-pixel camera, the out-of-the-box video capability, MMS support, removable microSD and battery capabilities, and super awesome text-to-voice for SMS messages features in the N96, you can really set this sexy device apart from the “other phones” with the desktop and S60 software available to extend the phone’s capabilities beyond simply consuming and communicating.

On the Desktop

Tip: Having Bluetooth on your home desktop or laptop makes a world of difference when using these apps, especially if you authorize your phone to be automatically connected to your N96 (or N95 which I use the heck out of on a regular basis)

Ovi Suite (PC Only, for now): This application’s capabilities are downright ridiculous. A quick run through the menus shows Nokia Music (a music store - non-US, grrr - and sync application), Nokia Music Manager (an alternate sync interface and media player),  Nokia Photos (a sub-feature of Ovi that integrates and synchronizes to various social networks), Nokia Map Manager (download cities before you get there),  and Download! (the Nokia application store). That’s not even covering what Ovi does in the default interface. Just awesome

PC Suite (PC and Mac supported): I’ve used iterations of Nokia PC Suite since before the dawn of colored screens on cell phones with the Nokia 5190 and 6190. With the introduction of photos, videos, media, and other awesome, PC Suite has become better than I could have imagined 8 years ago. Send SMS message from your PC via USB or Bluetooth connection, synchronize your stuff (calendar, contacts, music, images, videos, and maps), install apps, check for the latest software pack for your phone… and receive notifications when a call is coming through or your receive a text message… If you’re phone isn’t near you, this is really handy. Additionally, you can use your phone as a 3G modem, tethered to your desktop/laptop. When I was in San Francisco, I was getting 4Mb down and 1.2Mb up bandwidth speeds over USB, and just shy of those numbers of Bluetooth, constantly. In San Diego, I get about 1.2 up and down over USB and Bluetooth alike - rad.

Nokia Communication Center 2.0: This comes bundled with Ovi, I believe, but if it’s not - I’ve linked it below. In short, it’s epic. The SMS and MMS interaction is unrivaled in the mobile universe. Turning your phone’s messaging into a virtual short message email inbox on your desktop or laptop.

Home Media Server: I have a Buffalo LinkTheater that listens for media servers, wirelessly over my network, and connects them to my television; though I know there are other configurations that are great for Home Media Server, the one I happened to find I have is just incredible. When I get within Bluetooth distance of my home, my phone starts to sync up, and like magic, without doing anything, I can then check out videos, images and music from my phone on my television. This setup “happened” after I installed the software and has worked flawlessly since day one.

Here’s a link list to everything I’ve talked about:

• Ovi by Nokia  - http://www.ovi.com/services/
• Nokia Music - http://music.nokia.co.uk/
• Nokia Maps (US) - http://www.nokiahowto.com/A4686841
• Nokia Maps (EU) - http://europe.nokia.com/A4509271
• Nokia Download Store - http://www.download.nokia.com/
• Nokia PC Suite (US) - http://nokia.us/A4986251
• Nokia PC Suite (EU) - http://europe.nokia.com/pcsuite
• Home Media Server - http://www.simplecenter.com/nokia/

Some other awesome toys to mess with from Nokia Beta Labs:

• SportsTracker - GPS, accelerometer powered sports diary and social network
• Mobile WebServer - Access your phone via a browser
• Conversations - (Not yet for the N96) Threaded conversations for SMS? iPhone isn’t the only one.
• MOSH - Yes, an apps (etc) sharing application/site
• Nokia Chat - Just as it reads. Phone to phone chatting, geolocation enabled, of course.
• Nokia Communication Center 2.0 - just as I said above, if you have a Nokia, get this. Now.
• Nokia Friend View - Microblogging + Geotracking (similar to Chat)

At the end of the day, Nokia’s strengths aren’t just in their features on the handsets, and these software items aren’t only for the Nokia N96, but my experience with the N96 over the past few days has been faster and even more seamless than with the N95, most notably with the speeds. My laptop will notify me of a text message at the exact same time that my phone alerts me, before with the N95 there was about a 4 to 5 second delay.

What I’d really like to see is more work within Ovi, to really get the “released” applications (maybe even some of the beta apps) rolled up under one roof, including Nokia Vine. I have have yet to check out Nokia Vine - but last I read, my account is on the way, and honestly? I can’t wait. Using a Nokia phone makes sharing, contributing, and consuming information a breeze. When compared to the competition on these levels, Nokia wins, hands down, and that’s not be just being a simple fanboy about the whole experience, it’s simply a superior experience from end-to-end, even without multi-touch or a full browser.

I unboxed the Nokia N96 a couple of days ago, and the first thing I noticed were the seeming downfalls:

Battery restriction, I have 2 BL-6F batteries for my N95-3, though the battery fits and powers the N96 just fine, the 1200mAh battery is simply too large (slightly) for the back plate to fit properly. The BL-5F is the 950mAh battery for the N-series N96, comes in the box with it. Funny thing is - side-by-side the N96 with the BL-5F battery outlasts the N95-3 with the BL-6F plopped in; but just barely. That has a lot to do with a “slower” processor” installation, but honestly, I’m beginning to think the OS upgrade is either more efficient, or I’m just delusional - the N96 is a faster experience over my N95-3 by far.

Smooth Keypad. I saw it, and I sank. The keys for both the numeric keypad and the media keypad are flush, flat and glossy, which to me meant “less tactile keyboard” and for me, that’s not a good thing. Again, Nokia is smarter than my impressions. After using the new keypad for about 30 minutes, I quickly realized that it wasn’t only awesome, but I was able to type more accurately and faster. Who would’a thunk it?

Lack of Gallery “Quick Access” key. This one was a give and take. On the N95-3 I use the Gallery key often, more often than I’d like to in-fact. So, the introduction of the magic silver button next to the jog-pad on the front-face led me to find that not only were there massive improvements with accessing media from the N95 to the N96, but now? It’s less likely I’ll find my phone randomly in some “viewing photo” state when I want to make a call. Awesome.

Non-standard USB port. In my opinion, this is simply FAIL. Looking at the physical space alloted for plugs on the handset, I can see why Nokia did it, it just wouldn’t fit, simple. But still - now I have to make sure I don’t lose the cable it came with, and I need to ensure I have it on me… That is, if I’m not interacting with PC Suite via Bluetooth, which I do most (if not “nearly all”) of the time. It’s just principle, as to why I don’t agree with this change. [Update from @docwho76 via Twitter - Okay, I just need to get off my ass and buy new mini USB cables… This is awesomesauce.)

Even though the downsides aren’t really downsides, and I actually consider them improvements - as far as I’m concerned, the outright upsides are plenty. Here’s a short-list:

Additional LED Flash - Video Flash. For anyone that’s recorded something at night via video, you’ll know that not having a light is usually a crappy way to start. Well? Problem solved, not only is there a light for video, but there are two LED’s on the back of this thing. People ask “why not Xenon?”, simple. LED’s don’t die. Xenon has a bad habit of simply “not working” from time to time, even in cars. It’s really rare, but why take the chance? These LED’s already are powerful enough to blind people, trust me, my friends have complained about it plenty enough already and it’s only been a couple of days.

Nokia Maps. The GPS on the N96 is smoking fast, and extremely accurate. I’m a fan of the satellite view, much like you get with Google Maps, but the thing that gets me is - “Walking Distance, Coffee Shops” search. The novelty factor is, I found out I’m only 890 yards from Java Jones, which is 9 blocks from where I’m sitting, 172 yards from It’s a Grind, where I’ll be heading in a few minutes. But the step-by-step, turn-by-turn voice navigation via Bluetooth to your ear is what’s making me most happy. I had this feature on the N95-3, but this time, I have a British woman telling me the directions, not some Disney “remain seated please” voice rambling about.

Internet Radio - Resident. What an AWESOME surprise. Pandora is one thing, and I enjoy it, awesome. But having Radio 1 from the UK in my ear across the globe while I’m cruising around town is simply awesome. There a loads and loads of Internet Radio stations available on the N96, and for free.

24 Gigabytes (GB) of Storage. With 16GB in the phone, and 8GB on a removable microSD card, I really kinda feel spoiled.

The list of stuff tucked into the N96 is pretty long, I’ll keep it as short as possible, but not really.

1. Video Feeds & Video Ring tones
2. Live TV - operator support required (AT&T, since you only listen to Apple, have Steve Jobs put this feature on the iPhone so you can catch up to the rest of the world)
3. Video Teleconferencing - operator support required (Again, AT&T… scream at your buddy Jobs, I’d like these features to be enabled on your network, I’m assuming the iPhone will have to do this before you let the rest of us enjoy these features we already have available to us)
4. Share Online with Nokia Ovi, Flickr, Vox and then some
5. Email support
6. MMS support
7. SMS support
8. Front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera on the slide as well as the 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss optics camera on the rear.
9. Kick-stand for propping phone up while you watch stuff.
10. Keypad-lock switch! Which is actually a lot better than have it auto-lock on the N95-3, lemme tell ya.
11. Stereo speakers
12. Memory slot
13. Dual-sliding layout do-dad. (Slide one way, you got a number pad, slide the other way, you have a media player, FTW)
14. Did I mention 24GB of memory to abuse?
15. Nice, large screen (same as the N95-4, but I have the N95-3. I wanted to keep the expandable memory slot option, but now - I can have both a large screen and more memory. Rock!)
16. Nokia Vine installed by default

I could say more… and will say more later.