July 31, 2007

Facebook Issues

Facebook is a great tool. I have been using it since mid-2004 and have hardly had a problem with this killer internet app. However, lately as I have been trying to use Facebook as a marketing tool for my internet series Tucson Underground, I have come into some rather annoying difficulties. First, we created a group and invited all of our friends to join to show their support and also so that we could have an easy way to mass message our audience. After a little while, we maxed out on the friends of the creators and we wanted to get more members.

Problem number one: There is no simple way for members of a group to invite all of their friends. A given member has no other option than to sit at their computer sending one invite at a time.

Problem number two: As a work around to issue number one, we gave certain friends of ours admin status so that they could add all of their friends to the list in a more streamlined way (admins can select all their friends and then invite, instead of sending out one at a time). Problem is, the Facebook server cannot handle sending out so many invites at once, so the browser just stops.

Problem number three: Apparently some of the invites from those lists were sent out to individuals who became members of the group. However, the list of people waiting to be sent invites did not change. I contacted Facebook and they told me to remove the invites and start over using only 300 at a time. So I started to go through removing hundreds of invites. Next thing I know, our member numbers have dropped about 60 members. What happened was, certain people were already in the group and when I removed them from the invite list, I accidentally removed them from the group itself. Balls in my mouth.

So now I am in a back and forth email conversation with Facebook's tech support. Hopefully this will all be resolved shortly.

If Facebook plans on being the dominant social network they need to ensure that their infrastructure is expanding as fast as the members of the network need it or they will surely run into more problems. This is especially true as people turn Facebook into a place of business (especially marketing) as well as pleasure. Having to cap the number of invites sent and making it extremely tedious for people to invite all their friends to a group only slows Facebook's growth.

I am still a fan of Facebook and I still think it is the best option out there at the moment.

Oh, by the way, Facebook is down right now so I had to find another way to kill a few minutes and this is what happened. Yet another reason for Facebook to get their shit together.

July 29, 2007

Free Pay Phone Calls


Today I was up in the mountains and I had no cell phone service, so I decided to use the payphone. I needed to call in to work to try and get the day off, but I didnt know the number by heart, so I called 1-800-GOOG-411 (google's free 411 service, great deal on a side note). Now, after I gave them the information and got the number, Google connected me without having to put any money into the pay phone.

So, if you ever need to use the pay phone, but find yourself short of the necessary change, go through google's 411 service and the call will be free. I think this only works with businesses, but its still a nifty trick.

July 28, 2007

La Tierra

Nature is a great thing. It really helps you to recheck your life and realize that you are just a tiny speck of a much greater existence than yourself. I am currently spending the weekend in Big Sur, CA which is about 6 hours north of LA. Even though I am not completely away from civilization, I am online right now. It still feels good to take a step back and breath for a while. Thats all. From time to time everyone needs to remove themselves from their situation, no matter what it is. It can be good, bad, sad, terrifying, whetever. Take a break, go outside and enjoy the wonders of the world around you.

July 26, 2007

This Happens To Me All The Time

July 17, 2007

Internet Series

Tucson Underground was launched about a week an a half ago at www.nategrace.com. It is an internet series that I have been working on for over two years with some friends of mine. Everyone should check it out and tell their friends as well.

Also the new Sausage Fest series is in the pre-production phase. We have just finished outlining the season and we are beginning to write a treatment for each individual episode. It is going to be fucking hilarious. Stay Tuned.