I immediately signed up because I knew that Google Wave would be very useful for my two lines of work. As the days and months passed I read every single article from blogs like this one, I viewed countless Youtube videos that demoed exactly how Google Wave works. My excitement grew.

It was then announced that September 30th, 2009 “100,000″ new users would be allowed into the Google Wave beta. I figured since I signed up early and I put in a detailed reason how I would use Google Wave I would certainly be among the first to get an invite. I was wrong.

I have been a loyal Googler. When the search engine launch I shared with my then High School friends why Google was better then that altavista/dogpile site they were using. When Gmail came out I announced to my College friends that they should make the switch as I called Gmail revolutionary. When Google acquired Blogger I bought a damn Blogger logo sweater and wore it around campus.

Google – why wasn’t I invited to Google Wave?

I know of countless individuals on twitter who didn’t even use your pathetic sign-up form that I filled out on May 27th who have since gone on to receive invitations just for begging on twitter! One of my twitter friends was “nominated” 12 hours before he received an account. Meanwhile, my wait has been over 6 months.

Your process for rolling out products is COMPLETELY UNFAIR.

You claim that there are scalability issues when it comes to your new service and this is why you are only limiting “100,000″ invitations initially. I call BS on this. Your plan is to create hype around the product with a limited release like you did with Gmail and Google Voice. Who are we kidding? You are Google, you have enough resources to copy every single website around the world every few minutes, but you can’t scale new users on this new product?

The only people who can activate new Google Wave users are located in Australia. How about flying two employees to the great western hemisphere and keep them knocking off people in the original queue – you know, the list of people who signed up the morning of May 27th, 2009.

I understand the importance of Google Wave. I work part-time with a news gathering organization and I see how Google Wave can be very useful for the journalism world. I also work full-time as a web developer and Google Wave will be a benefit in the collaboration of building websites.

I would be a person who would be using Google Wave every minute of every day – but I probably won’t get invited for another 6 months because of some idiotic sign up process.

Screw you Google.

(Photos provided by KABC Chopper, @brangonz, @brianinla, @branimirkvartuc, @dinesh_s)

#LARiots – Streetview of the coffee shop’s busted windows from earlier – http://twitpic.com/7g77e

#LARiots – KABC chopper heading home! Feed cut

#LARiots – CLEAN UP! LA Squad car getting put on a flat bed http://twitpic.com/7g6iq

#LARiots – broken windows – http://twitpic.com/7g64g http://twitpic.com/7g62r Street level of that Juice store – http://twitpic.com/7g66u

#LARiots – LAPD holding at least 10 vandalism suspects.

#LARiots – Just witnessed a group maybe 40 rioters obey a pedestrian traffic sign while 3 or 4 squad cars watched. LOL

#LARIots – The LAPD car that was vandalized and looted earlier – http://twitpic.com/7g4at

#LARiots – Another view of the sneaker store that was looted – http://twitpic.com/7g4xm

#LARiots – Looters rob a sneaker store – Completely cleaned out – http://twitpic.com/7g3xk

@caguiar1993 I miss the days of ticker tape parades

#LARiots – Crowds seem to be settling down, or are too dispersed for the KABC chopper to find any action

#LARiots – What does all this looting and vandalism have to do with the LA Lakers winning the championship?

#LARiots LAPD say there is possible vandalism at an Office Depot – Also, single reports of shots fired at 9th and Olive.

#LARiots – Another store loses its windows. http://twitpic.com/7g4lq

#LARiots – Crowd breaks out store windows with trash cans and baseball bats http://twitpic.com/7g4ej http://twitpic.com/7g4f6

#LARiots – Rioters looting LAPD Squad Car – couple guys went inside – officers cleared the crowd – car secured http://twitpic.com/7g46i

#LARiots – LAPD in staging waiting to be deployed http://twitpic.com/7g416

#LARiots – Gas Station is surrounded by officers – seems the crowd dispersed there http://twitpic.com/7g3ym

#LARiots – LAPD officer reports that trains are getting stopped and things are being thrown at the trains.

#LARiots – LAPD Dispatcher says that “Reinforcements are starting to pileup” waiting for deployment

#LARiots – Reports of looting going on at Gas Stations in the Area http://twitpic.com/7g3n0

#LARiots – Group surround a car and rock it, driver accelerated really fast – rioters ran after http://twitpic.com/7g3m3

#LARiots – Guy on roof of car – Was traveling pretty fast – at least 30 MPH http://twitpic.com/7g3kq

#LARiots – Rioters gathering around a gas station – seriously, Gas Station + Riots + Fires doesn’t mix well.

#LARiots – Looks like they are heading back onto the 110 Freeway onramp.

RT @RodrigoMx: KABC Live Stream: mms://a352.l5671334351.c56713.n.lm.akamaistream.net/D/352/56713/v0001/reflector:34351

More Pictures of Riots http://twitpic.com/7g263 http://twitpic.com/7g2ec http://twitpic.com/7g2ft http://twitpic.com/7g2g2 #LARiots

LAPD: Rioters heading towards dealership ’s cars. #LARiots

Crowd throws a dumpster towards traffic – dumpster is on fire http://twitpic.com/7g0s1 #LARiots

LAPD: Crowd has moved off the 110 Freeway , now there are some on train tracks blocking train #LARiots

LAPD: Crowd moving onto the 110 Freeway – Northbound – Crazzzy! #LARiots

LAPD: Crowd surrounding news vehicles, earlier they were throwing road flares at them http://twitpic.com/7fzt9

LAPD: Crowd throwing road flares at the LAPD Squad Cars http://twitpic.com/7fzoo #LARiots

LAPD: Crowd appears to be 300 to 400 strong. #LARiots

RT @Alonis: YES! Feed! RT @CBS13rightnow: Lakers fans are now attacking police cars in Los Angeles. Watch live: http://ow.ly/e5CY

LAPD: They were able to remove the object on fire, no longer a threat… crowds still moving #LARiots

LAPD: LA Lakers fans are trying to tip over police cars – Officer asking for enforcement. Reports of object on fire under car #LARiots

LAPD: “We need more officers here, more officers” #lariots

@latinprince http://twitpic.com/7fxct – Riots happening now in LA – another pic: http://twitpic.com/7fwzf

RT @Alonis: RT @CAFirePage: *LA Riots* Live Police feed of incident is at the first feed on this page: http://bit.ly/QHAD5

Ain’t no party like a LA Riot ! RT @AlBoeBNO: Fires being started in the streets in LA.

RT @AlBoeBNO: Some fights have been going on in the LA laker celebration in LA. http://bit.ly/MqFVm

LA Lakers Trivia: It’s their 15th Title, Kobe hogged the spotlight in all 15 seasons too!

Its Official! RT @BreakingNews: The LA Lakers have claimed their 15th NBA title by defeating the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the NBA finals.

Add New Themes

What you see above is a picture of the new “Add New Theme” section underneath the Appearance Tab.  There are several ways you can get a new WordPress theme on your blog. First you can browse through the WordPress.org Extend Free Theme Gallery. You can filter this gallery by keyword, author, tag, color, columns, width, features, and subject. Also you can view the Featured Themes that WordPress.org’s crackpot (term used with effection) team have suggested that everyone use. They also allow you to filter by Newest themes and most Recently Updated themes.

These options are all well and good if you are interested in getting Freebies. But the feature that has me really excited is the new upload feature! That’s right you now have the ability to upload wordpress themes as zip files directly into WordPress!

This totally eliminates the need to explain to clients what FTP means and why they need to CHMOD something. It’s easy to use too! All you need to do is browse for the zip file, click on upload. Once uploaded it will ask if you want to Preview or Activate the theme. If you don’t want to do either it will take you back to the themes you have already installed.

Widgets Overhauled in WordPress 2.8

Yes! What you are look at above is the total overhaul of the widgets control panel. Currently in WordPress 2.7 the widgets are somewhat of a pain to use – and is especially hard to explain to new clients who have never used WordPress before. You have to show them where to find the drop down menu that allows you to switched between different sidebars. It’s too confusing.

But not anymore. The new Widget Control Panel means you don’t have to load any extra pages. All the work can be done right here. You drag and drop widgets to their appropriate sidebars like you used to be able to do Pre-WordPress2.6. Also, they have included a new feature called Inactive Widgets. When you drag a widget to this area it will keep the settings.

Speaking of widgets…

The Links Widget Upgraded

The links widget got completely updated too! One of my biggest complaints from clients was they were not able to automatically separate the Links in the Link Widget. Let’s say you filtered your links using three Link Categories, but you only wanted one of those categories to show up on the sidebar. In WordPress 2.7 there are NO Link options. That changes in WordPress 2.8! Not only do you get the ability to choose which categories you want listed in the Link Widget – you can also choose if an Image, Name or Description should appear with it.

Also, new for WordPress 2.8 is the ability for the Admin to rate his/her links.

Press This get Upgraded too

One of the hidden gems inside of WordPress has always been the “Press This” browser link. For those who don’t know, “Press This” allows you to post WordPress blogs on the go while browsing other website. One of the new features inside “Press This” is the ability to add media from the page you are viewing. In the page above I’m viewing the New York Times article about Rachel Alexandra’s win. I have decided that I want to post an image from the article as well so I went ahead and clicked on the horses coming out of the gate. It’s that easy!

If you are viewing a Youtube page and you click on “Press This” it will automatically give you the embed code that you can then insert into your post. I can see this becoming VERY useful for bloggers.

Update: I guess this was already upgraded in WordPress2.7. Hehe It’s new to me!

WordPress 2.8 Beta

Learn more about WordPress 2.8 Beta on Codex Page.

For those who are brave and want to try out the new WordPress before it is officially release head over to the Download Page. I must warn though – this is a Beta and it has the potential to mess things up! Use at your own risk!

Well, with Twitter Tools I can pull my twitter feed and have it update my blog automatically!

Twitter Tools

Get it Here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-tools/

Description: Twitter Tools is a plugin that creates a complete integration between your WordPress blog and your Twitter account.

Set up a Daily Digest of your Tweets

1. Download and Activate the Twitter Tools plugin.
2. In the Settings Menu on the Dashboard click on Twitter Tools.
3. Enter your Twitter username/password (Future releases will probably include the “OAuth” aka Twitter Connect option)
4. Enable option to create a tweet when you post in your blog? – YES
5. Set this on by default? – NO
6. Create a blog post from each of your tweets? – NO
7. Create a blog post from each of your tweets? – YES
8. Choose a time that is more convenient for you. I choose 11PM
9. Scroll down to the Categories part: Choose the category you would prefer your tweets to be added. Most like creating a new “twitter” category. I just placed mine in the JoeBrooks category.
10. Tags: These are the tags that will be added to each daily digest. Mine are: JoeBrooks, Tweets, Twitter, Joe Brooks Tweets, Joe Brooks Twitter
11. Exclude @reply tweets in your sidebar, digests and created blog posts? – NO (If you want to include all your tweets) or YES (If you want to exclude your replies to others).
12. Click on the Update Twitter Tools Options button.

That should do it! Check back tomorrow on your blog to see if everything posted properly. Here is how my first Twitter Daily Digest appeared like: http://www.joebrooks.me/twitter-updates-for-2009-04-27.html

wpSpoiler

Get it Here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wpspoiler/

Description: wpSpoiler is a plugin for WordPress, designed to protect the reader against spoilers, for example in book or filmreviews. The spoiler text is hidden by default and shows up if wished.

To mark a text as spoiler, enclose the passage with [spoiler] and [/spoiler].

Tiny Spoiler

Get it Here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tiny-spoiler/

Description:

• shows/hides text in spoiler shortcode
• name of spoiler area can be given
• only one little button [+] or [-]

WP_Censor

Get it Here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-censor/

Description: Black out certain words that may appear in a post especially when quoting. Aids you to keep the original content intact but maintain privacy or a family rating. Also allows the ability to hide explicit content, or spoiler information, such as sports results and film endings and allow the user to choose if they wish to view it.

SASpoiler

Get it Here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/saspoiler/

Description: Hides text behind a black text/black background tile. Holding the mouse over the text reveals it. Insipred by Something Awful’s spoiler system.

Usage: Simply put a [SPOILER]tag around your text[/SPOILER] that you wish to become “spoilered.” Works in both comments and posts.

Advanced Spoiler

Get it Here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/advanced-spoiler/

Description: Show or hide contents(text, image etc.) with animated effects wrapped by spoiler markup tag([spoiler][/spoiler]).

• Animate effects: appear, blind, slide, apblind(appear + blind), phase, simple(no animate)
• Supports TinyMCE button and quicktags button
• Provides option page for default effect, show text, hide text, animate speed, nested spoilers.
• Supports ‘Simple Mode’: no aniated effects and just simple javascript.

I must have been under a rock yesterday because I totally missed this announcement. The Automatic/WordPress Team announced one of the newest features will allow blog adminstraters to reply directly to comments posted on their blog by use of Email.

This could come in handy for those who already have email notifications turned on. Instead of seeing that you have a new comment and having to login to respond all you need to do is hit reply in your preferred email client, type response and click on send.

More:

To use this feature, blog owners are required to make a couple of configuration changes which are very simple. Once done with these configurations, bloggers can reply to comments using their preferred email address and save the effort of replying via the WordPress admin interface.

The two changes are as follows:

1. Please make sure that email notifications for comments are turned on.
2. Select the Enable sending comment replies via email option.

These settings can be finetuned under Settings->Discussion page.

Update: Unless I’m missing something, this update seems to only be available for WordPress.com users, which takes my excitement down a few notches.  (frown)

I am the creator, Graphic Designer, and Coder of this WordPress Theme. 

What you get are the following:

- WordPress Theme: CarbonationBubbles – Green

- WordPress Theme: CarbonationBubbles – Blue

- WordPress Theme: CarbonationBubbles – Purple

- WordPress Theme: CarbonationBubbles – Pink

- WordPress Theme: CarbonationBubbles – Red

- WordPress Theme: CarbonationBubbles – Orange

- WordPress Theme: CarbonationBubbles – Yellow

Each theme comes with the Featured Gallery plugin, with installation instructions, also instructions on how to featured articles on the home page.

LIVE DEMO: http://joe-brooks.com/wp10/