Chris Spagnuolo’s EdgeHopper

Hi. Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve written…ANYTHING.  Well, the time has come to start writing again.  But I’m not sure how much I’ll be writing here on Edgehopper for now (however, I might surprise myself and everyone else if I did start writing here again).  To catch you all up, I lost my job a few months ago and had an epiphany of sorts, mostly about what’s important in life and what makes me happy.  I’ve taken the time-off as kind of a blessing in disguise.  It allowed me to spend time with my family, watch my little ones smile, and enjoy life for a change.  And, I’ve been just about everywhere on the Front Range of Colorado on my bike.  Sure, I could have let anger get the best of me, write about the jerk who got rid of me, etc.  But that’s not me.  Happiness is a choice and I chose to be happy even in a trying situation.

During this time of finding happiness, I decided to start writing a new blog.  I want to share some of my thoughts on happiness with others.  And the thing that helps me stay happy is bringing some Zen goodness to my life.  Finding balance in everything.  So, now I have theme: How to use Zen in your daily life, on your bike, while you’re running….wherever.  It’s all about helping others keep things in perspective and keep smiling.  Simple and to the the point.  I originally was going to call it MyZenLife.com but someone beat me to that gem.  So, to all of my awesome Edgehopper readers, I have a question to ask: What should I name my new blog?  If you have ideas, let me know.  I value your opinions very highly! And I promise, if I pick your name, I will find a way to repay you personally somehow.

After much rumor and speculation following Facebook’s acquisition of FriendFeed, Facebook officially launched “Facebook Lite” today. There had been rumors circulating for the past few weeks that Facebook was testing a lite interface and now you can get yours today. It’s essentially a stripped down version of Facebook, and quite frankly, I like it.  It’s simpler, easier to use, and not as cluttered as the original Facebook was becoming.  Check out the light box below featuring screenshots from the new Facebook Lite (click on a thumbnail to open the light box and slideshow).

A few years ago I was in Melbourne, Australia at the time the Australian Open was being played at Rod Laver Arena. I wasn’t a big fan of fuzzy yellow balls and rackets, but quickly became one after attending a match in the fabled arena. A few years later and I’m finding myself following tennis as much as I can. And now, the US Open has made it easier to follow the tournament with possibly one of the best sporting event iPhone apps yet.

The 2009 US Open iPhone app has just about everything you need to follow the tournament except for live video coverage. Other than that, you get live scores, completed scores, US Open news, a full interactive schedule, interactive draws, video highlights, a photo gallery, player bios, Twitter integration, live US Open Radio broadcasts with “Ask the booth” interaction, and complete spectator information with seating charts, transportation options, dining options and more.

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Let me just say that I love crowdsourcing and crowdsourced projects. With all the things that are being crowdsourced today, one of the most interesting is the trend toward crowdsourcing journalism. On the forefront of this effort is HARO….or Help A Reporter Out. HARO is the brainchild of Peter Shankman, an entrepreneur and the CEO of The Geek Factory, a PR and Marketing boutique firm in New York City. Essentially HARO connects journalists who have questions or queries for their stories with YOU. It’s such a simple but amazing way to connect journalists with the widest possible selection of sources available to them. They ask a question…you answer it. As I said, I absolutely love crowdsourcing and I think that HARO has hit it out of the park with this one. As for rules, HARO has just this simple advice (and you might apply this in other areas of your life/business as well):

“Just promise me and yourself that you’ll ask yourself before you send a response: Is this response really on target? Is this response really going to help the journalist, or is this just a BS way for me to get my client in front of the reporter? If you have to think for more than three seconds, chances are, you shouldn’t send the response.”

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