A Different Kind of Bump: Bump.com

Also known as "Facebook for your car" by James Madison University's The Breeze.

Essentially Bump.com allows you to register your e-mail to your license plate.  And they advertise that if you say, leave your lights on, or your meter is about to run out, or some cute girl/guy thinks you're cute, they can e-mail you.


Welcome to BUMP.com from BUMP on Vimeo.

You can send a bump to their account on the site, to an e-mail, and even texts with smart phones. Of course you can also connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Bump.com is bringing your car into the mix of social media as a way to identify yourself. It is still in the testing phases, but is making some waves.


Here's a video from Bloomberg News about Bump.com


Bloomberg Report on BUMP.com 2, October 18, 2010 from BUMP on Vimeo.


I think this is a baaaad way to go.  Road rage is a real problem, and imagine if people could now really express how they feel instantly after someone cuts them off.  This is just looking to make more stalkers without any privacy settings. People are more likely to rant than warn about an empty meter.

If you can get an invitation to be in the trial, let me know how it works though!

Bump IT

If you want to share information from your iPhone or Android, the free Bump application can do that.

Synching schedules? Want to be friends on Facebook or Twitter? Done in the simple motion of "bumping" your two phones together.

Video tutorial- How to Bump IT

There are other apps that use Bump to share information. Here are some of the favorites from the Bump blog.

-Pick a top 100s Radio Song Pack and Bump it to a friend
-Love wine? Share your knowledge and Bump your favorite wines to a friend 
-Create a stick it note on your iPhone then Bump it to a friend! 

...just to name a few. Here are the rest of the top 10. There are also hundreds of other apps that can utilize Bump.  

 I don't have quite that smart of a phone, but if you do, try Bump and let me know how it goes!

Can Ipad or should I Kindle?

First things first, I love almost all things from Apple, so of course I'm all about the iPad. But to give the Kindle from Amazon a fair shot (it did come out first), here is a comparison of the two.

 









Price: iPad=$500 Kindle=$139

Size: iPad= 24 ounces(1.5 lbs), 0.5 inches thin and 9.7 inches measured diagonally
Kindle= 8.5 ounces, 4.8 by 7.5 inches 

Battery Life: iPad= 10 hours with Wi-Fi
Kindle= 1 month without Wi-Fi

Internet: iPad=Wi-Fi and 3G networkup to 7.2 Mbps
Kindle= Wi-Fi and free 3G wireless

Abilities:
iPad= can synch with all of your other Apple products like iPhones, iTouch, Apple computers and even your Apple TV. Your weekly schedule or whatever you need from your i Pad is always at your fingertips and automatically stored in your other devices. Remote locating is possible if you forget it somewhere too. It does e-mail, iTunes, photos, videos, games, maps, notes, e-books and thousands of apps.

Kindle= holds 3,500 e-books, can be read in bright sunlight, automatic archive back up of contents online, can read out loud to you, built in Twitter and Facebook integration to share passages you're reading. There is also no eye strain in trying to read their "electronic ink" because it is not a back lit LCD screen.

Also according to a recent survey from Nielsen, 31% of U.S. children ages 6 to 12 want an iPad over any other electronic.

So it seems the iPad wins by the mere factor that it has more functions.  Kindle is best suited for an avid reader who potentially travels a lot.

Whats's the point of Twitter?

Lets talk Twitter.

I was very reluctant to ever get a twitter, however, I now have two and think its one of the greatest things since sliced bread. That being said, lets address why people may be opposed to Twitter.

Lots of people don't like how quickly social media is moving. Literally and figuratively.  The short, fast-paced tweets are not how some people like to communicate, also some people think Twitter is just a laundry list of what people are doing at that exact moment. Not so, my friends!

Twitter is a micro blogging tool, which means it's for short, concentrated posts. It's very different from the conversational style of Facebook.  You only have 140 CHARACTERS, so choose wisely what you want to say.

Because you have such limited space, there are several link shorteners available like bit.ly or ow.ly if you do want to share something. You can post pictures through Twitpic, and even MP3s through Tinysong or Twiturm.

Here's a list of tools useful to twitter users: Twitter Toolbox

Ok, so starting a Twitter is easy. You log in, create a unique user name, pick a picture or icon to represent your unique user name, and boom, you have an account. Next it will prompt you to find people to follow. These are the users who will fill your feed with tweets, so again, choose wisely.

There are several ways to execute a Twitter account: as an individual to keep up with news or friends; (most large media sources have Twitter accounts and tweet breaking or big new stories) a professional; (following peers and organizations in your field to stay current) as a business (posting updates and spreading chatter about your product or company or creating online specials). These are just a few ways to utilize Twitter as an effective communication resource.

The point is that there are multiple ways to use Twitter for your needs. It takes trial and error to figure out what works for you.

Mitch Joel of "Six Pixels of Separation" puts it this way,
It's not planned. It's not perfect. It's human. It's a living organism. Living organisms that change, evolve and adapt based on who is putting what into it and how the content is being collaborated on and extrapolated.