Since I have started using twitter, (ScottBlogs on Twitter) I have seen a number of new people follow me, and I in return have followed a number of people. As this is the first time I have really taken Twitter seriously it got me thinking about their whole system, and as a result I have a few ideas for ways to improve Twitter.

Follow Categories
Why not have the ability to view only subsets of your followers by grouping them the same way you might your instant messaging contacts, or even email inbox. If I could group those that I am following into categories such as “family”, “friends”, “co-workers”, “news”, “humor”, etc, it would make it much easier to bounce around and read the updates from the specific users I want to see at that given moment.

Currently there is the “everyone” tab which is basically an exact copy of the “home” tab, so I am not entirely sure why it is even there, but a dropdown subset under “everyone” listing all of your custom categories would really make sense.

Statistics
Twitter, why don’t you give us users some stats. Currently all we can see is how many people are being followed, how many we are following, and how many updates we have made. I want to know more. Here are some examples:

• How many people view my profile page? (daily/weekly/monthly etc) Of these, how many are my followers, or people I am following? How many times has each of these users checked me out?
• Rank the users that @reply and DM (Direct Message) me based on how many messages they have sent me.
• Rank the users that I @reply and DM based on my communication with them
• Stats on how I post to twitter: How many of my messages were from “web” or “twitme” or “SMS” or Other.
• Follow rates: How many people followed me on a per day basis? How many people have I followed?

Include these stats and make the pretty with charts and graphs, and make it all customizable. Also give the option to have this data public or private, or allow us to show only the data we want displayed on our side bar (similar to a WordPress widget).

This data would be really cool to have, and I am sure many many users will find it of value.

Security
Users post links like crazy, and for the most part they are all safe links – I can assume this simply because someone with several hundred followers is not likely to post a link to a virus or something as there are then numerous people who likely know who the person is. That said, when you click a link through “tiny URL” or one of the other URL shrinkers, there is really no way to know where you are going to end up unti you get there. Twitter, why not add a feature that when the link is moused-over the actual URL appears, so that we can more carefully choose which links to click!

Well, that’s it for my suggestions today, Thanks Twitter – I hope you listen to some of this and care enough to upgrade.

(If you are a twitter user, please leave me your comments on these ideas, and post your own suggestions – also feel free to tweet this URL for others. Lets try and improve twitter a little bit!)

• New Post: Scott Blogs Weekly Twitter 2008-12-21 http://tinyurl.com/89ohrb #
• At work looking out the window at the most beautiful day ever. Fresh snow on everything, and a bright clear blue sky. #
• @bwoodsdesign Just 1, shes just about 10 months old. She doesn’t care about Christmas yet, but I do. in reply to bwoodsdesign #
• @dens I’m guessing you’ll have to go out and do some shopping… in reply to dens #
• New Post: 447 Christmas Tubas http://tinyurl.com/99zemo #
• ATTENTION: Looking for blog post ideas. Have you got an idea for me? DM reply, or drop a comment or message at http://www.scottblogs.com/ #
• 3 More Sleeps Till Christmas! #
• 2 More Sleeps till Christmas! #
• More snow on the way – might be the first Canada-Wide White Christmas in more than 40 Years!!! #
• @bwoodsdesign I like the brain I did it to try and be a little creative and maybe draw some attention. Just my head is boring. in reply to bwoodsdesign #
• @bwoodsdesign I am working on a new banner for after the holidays, but sorry, the brain will still be hanging out in reply to bwoodsdesign #
• New Post: Santa Is a Canadian Citizen http://tinyurl.com/7mmgaj #
• Canadian Federal Government has declared Santa to be a Canadian Citizen! http://tinyurl.com/7mmgaj #
• 1 More Sleep Till Santa Comes to See Us! #
• Merry Christmas Everyone! #
• New Post: Merry Christmas Everyone http://tinyurl.com/9dw4zk #
• 365 More Sleeps Till Christmas.. wait… its Christmas Today! Ya! 0 More Sleeps! #
• New Post: Retail Stores and “Sale” Prices http://tinyurl.com/7b93x2 #
• New Post: DNA Not Foolproof – Chimeras Are Out There http://tinyurl.com/8ysw2p #

DNA is a scary thing. Law enforcement and the legal system use’s it for proving just about everything. On one hand it’s an amazing tool in identifying criminals, but it is not foolproof.

Recently my wife and I were watching the Discovery channel and they were talking about people who are “Chimeras”. You can research the details of this yourself, but in essence it is someone who is born with two different sets of DNA caused by the fusing of twins at the very early stages of pregnancy.

The two sets of DNA can be found just about anywhere. In one example a woman’s gallbladder had separate DNA from the rest of her body.

The show went on to discuss the case of one woman who was having her kids taken away from her by the courts. They claimed that they were not her kids, and DNA testing proved that they were not a match, but in fact, they were actually her kids.

After a lengthy court battle and several DNA tests, they ultimately found her to be a chimera, and as such, the DNA they could test, blood, hair, etc, was not a match for her kids, but that there was DNA hidden within her that was a match.

DNA, which seems like concrete evidence, has its holes, and our legal system relying so heavily on it to prove cases is scary – If you are actually innocent, but DNA tests somehow come up showing you as guilty, how on earth can you fight that?

Have you ever paid “regular price” for anything? If so, you’re a sucker – and well, I guess that makes me a sucker too.

What is regular price? Well, it’s whatever price a retail store decides to stick on a product at any given time. Sure manufacturers set the MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price) but stores are under no obligation to meet this price – it’s only meant as a guide.

You have to love the fact that just before a sale, the regular price seems to magically increase to make the sale price look better. When I was doing my Christmas shopping, one of the gifts I bought my wife was a new waterproof digital camera (The Olympus 850). The price has come down a ton since I first saw it about a year ago. Regular price last week at Future shop was $229. In their ad a week later they had it on sale for $199, BUT they also say “Save $50”. Last time I checked, that was actually a difference of $30, not $50.

Now if you called them on it, they may say, it was a flyer typo or something, but I have seen this happen time and time again, make the sale look better than it is by raising the regular price so people will be more likely to buy it. To me that equals a big time scam, and I am not so sure its legal.

(For the record I went to Walmart to buy it and they matched the Future Shop price – I hate Walmart, but I hate FutureShop more. I like London drugs (sometimes), but they wouldn’t match the price cause I wanted the orange camera and the one in the ad was black – Walmart didn’t care about the color).

Never, ever, buy anything that is not on sale, unless you desperately need it. Sales are stupid these days, they don’t make sense. Everything comes on sale at least once a month – what’s the point? All it does it cause us consumers to have no understanding of what regular price really is. If you pay regular price on anything, you’re getting ripped off because in a couple weeks it will be on sale again.

I have seen cases where the “sale” price is actually the MSRP – what’s up with that? Or better yet, the sale price is some stupid amount, say 5%, or 10%. Ten percent? That’s the best you can do? I can get 10% off just about anything at any time. Several years ago I used to work at Office Depot. Management gave us the authority to take 10% off the price of any item (some exceptions) for anyone, for just about any reason. If a customer walked in and wanted to buy a monitor but seemed unsure on the price, you could drop it 10% just like that. I can only assume that many other retail outlets have this authority given to their employees – and if they don’t, I can pretty much guarantee that management could drop the price for you.

Sure you’d have to take the effort to ask, but the mere fact that you can get it any time shows that the 10% “sale” price is not really a sale now is it. Give us a real sale, give us 50% off, or we’ll go to the store that will. It’s a recession people, these businesses will take just about any offer providing it is high enough for them to still turn a profit. If you walk they make nothing, if they drop the price, they make something.

I would be tempted to just move out to the woods in some secluded cabin with no contact with the outside world, hunting for my food, and burning wood to cook and keep warm. The problem is I like my stuff, I like my technology, and I like my modern conveniences. I guess I, along with everyone else living in the modern world, am prisoner to these retail stores and will be for the rest of my life.

BTW, Incase you are interested, this blog post was inspired by the photo below posted over at FailBlog.

Its Christmas morning, and what a busy one. This year will mark my daughters first, and at just under 10 months, the only thing she seems to care about the holidays so far is eating the Christmas tree. When it comes time to open the presents she will undoubtedly tear her gifts open and attempt to consume the wrapping paper, not giving a care for whatever is inside the box.

For the first year even our pets got stockings. Not sure what my wife Lyndsay was thinking, but, heck, it’s Christmas, why not.

I am guessing also that today, nobody will read my Blog. Afterall, it’s Christmas morning – who is out reading random blogs with so much other stuff to do. I will be curious to see my web stats for today to see how many readers I actually managed to get. If you happen to read this on the 25th, drop me a “Merry Christmas” comment – Please?

Today we have my dad coming over in the morning, then we are off to Lyndsay’s dad’s, then back home, then over to my dads for dinner. It will be exhausting, but a lot of fun.

It also looks like it will be a white Christmas this year. Whats that? Why don’t I just look out the window and check? Well, I am writing this a few days early because, well, I doubt I will be on the computer at all on the 25th, so this post was a scheduled one.

At any rate, Merry Christmas Everyone, enjoy the day, and don’t eat too much turkey and chocolate!

I love the fact that I am Canadian. I have American friends, I love to visit the US, and have nothing against their country, but I would not give up living in Canada, or calling my self Canadian for anything.

I have had job offers in the states offering me more money than I make now, but not only do I like my job, I have no desire to move south of the border, not even for money. And, as of today, I have one more reason to be grateful that I live here. None other than Santa Claus himself has been officially declared a Canadian Citizen by the Canadian Federal Government.

In an official statement, Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism said: ““The Government of Canada wishes Santa the very best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him know that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his trip around the world is complete.”

Now I can say I come from the same country as Santa!

Now I am not a big fan of the tuba. I dont hate it, don’t have a problem with it, just not a big fan, but the 447 tubas playing Christmas music in Downtown Disney would have been cool to see.

This is the 4th year for the event – last year a world record was set with 502 tuba players.

I tried to find a video of the event on YouTube but failed. If you have a link to a video of this, send it over and I will post it.

• xmas lights in a car are illegal in BC. Got pulled over. What a flippin crock. Stupid rule really. I got a warning, but normally an $81 fine #
• WTF? I am really hoping this is a Jke.. The video at the bottom right makes it look like a joke… http://www.bikeforest.com/tread/index.php #
• Have a nice, new, Christmas theme to my site now! Check it out: http://www.scottblogs.com/ Let me know what you think! #
• About a foot of snow expected in my area over the next 24 hours! Yipee! #
• BC Hydro Donates to Children’s Hospital if you view their card and activate it! http://tinyurl.com/5srqpw #
• New Post: “Merry Christmas vs Seasons Greetings” And Poll/Video http://tinyurl.com/42tq8q #
• @ebaumsworld I saw that yesterday morning. Craziness! in reply to ebaumsworld #
• The sun is shining, fresh snow from yesterday, what a beautiful day. #
• Crazy Video – if you like cars, this is a must see! http://video.kenblockracing.com/flash/player/ #
• New Post: Boiling Water Turns to Snow http://tinyurl.com/47bw54 #
• @brandyellen Its crazy, I am hearing about snow everywhere. I’m on the west coast of Canada and we have tons right now. in reply to brandyellen #
• Brain Contained Foot! See Post: http://tinyurl.com/43vvz8 #
• @jdunns4 Some great photos there!!! in reply to jdunns4 #
• New Post: Brain Contained Foot http://tinyurl.com/43vvz8 #
• Stay Out of the Doghouse This year! http://tinyurl.com/6kruqq #
• New Post: In the Doghouse http://tinyurl.com/44bdfg #
• 6 More Sleeps Till Christmas! #
• So Early – should be sleeping – off to the showers then out for breakfast. Little one is playing away and super cheery. #
• 40 cm of snow in the forecast for the next 24 hours, then another 20 cm in the next few days after that, thats 2 feet of snow if it happens! #
• @BigHeadAsian But it is Saturday! (although I dont know where you live, I suppose it could be Sunday there…) in reply to BigHeadAsian #
• 6.5 Earthquake just off Japan! Merry Christmas – apparantly no damage. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/12/20/japan.quake/index.html #
• @MattDavis Twins! Awesome, congrats. Scarry thought having two at once. We have a 10 month old little girl, and I cant imagine 2 of her! in reply to MattDavis #
• 5 More Sleeps Till Santa Comes! #
• 4 More Sleeps Till Santa Comes #

Stay Out of the doghouse this holiday season!

What a great video, worth the 4 minutes!

A tumor found in a newborns brain contained a foot, according to a story over at MSN Health & Fitness

I find it hard to believe, but strange things happen!

A doctor operating on a 3 day old to remove a brain tumor discovered a nearly perfect foot, hand, and thigh growing out of the newborns brain. It is believed that it was a case of “fetus in fetu” – a situation where a twin forms within another – a very rare case, and even more rare to have it occur in the brain.

I must say, this is rather freaky. I have heard of many strange cases of conjoined twins and birth defects, but this is the first I have heard of something like this. Makes me wonder what would have happened with the foot had the tumor gone unnoticed.