Dino Baskovic Can’t Lose

It's simple, really. I will blog about whatever the first 10 people tell me to blog. Ten posts in all, first come first served according to datetime stamp. Even if I haven't a clue as to the subject matter and I have to ad lib as I go.

The only stipulations are that you must tweet me your suggestion at @ProfessorDino via Twitter, and only one entry per person, please. No changing your mind, so make your tweet count.

Nothing's off the table here, and I can't guarantee you'll like what I write. But I will of course credit you for your suggestion.

So, what say ye?

Mr. Sachin Agarwal
Chief Executive Officer
Posterous.com

Thinking I'm done with Tumblr and torn between keeping Posterous or moving back to WordPress for my own blog.

Here are ten joints you may want to reconsider before checking in on Gowalla or Foursquare:

1. Adult "entertainment" venue, and I don't mean Applebee's after 9 o'clock
2. That place you see your paramour, and I don't mean the band
3. Rival gang turf
4. Border patrol if you are a spy
5. Dark alley to interview, only later to reveal, an anonymous source
6. Your bank, after hours, in the vault, holding power tools
7. Hot job interview while gainfully employed
8. SXSW when you're not actually there, poser
9. Betty Ford, or that place Tiger checked himself into
10. Jail

The subject of geolocation sparked some interest during yesterday's social media presentation I gave to InterCom Kalamazoo. The independent consultants, recent college grads and transitional career types in attendance were certainly no strangers to Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Yet they struggled with the value of status updates in those social networks. "Tell me again why I care that my friend is drinking coffee, or a certain brand of coffee, or whatever?" was the general consensus. (I'm just as guilty, bearing my soul to my Facebook friends that I've switched to decaf. Do you really care?)

Some connections do care, and according to Mark Zuckerberg, you do more than you think. So do marketers, though they're not so concerned about you as they are your connections and how they interact with you. No so much my taste in coffee but the brands that my friends, and their friends, consume, how often and, these days, where. Reigning geo champ Foursquare just announced a joint promotion with Starbucks on the heels of its Bravo deal:

Heavyweight contender Gowalla is not far behind, with multiple brand deals, its own promo with the Travel Channel, sponsorships of the recent Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and Haitian earthquake relief efforts. Both rivals are a hot topic in Texas, speaking of SXSW. Each are accessible on multiple mobile platforms, and are consuming more of my mindshare than I care to admit. The optimist in me sees geolocation becoming a permanent fixture in social media. The pessimist sees the fervent adoption this latest bandwagon and then thinks back to Second Life.

Regardless, geolocation is a game changer. Google wants in on the action with its Latitude and Buzz apps. Twitter just added geo-location to tweets and Facebook is not far behind. Somewhat related, I brought up Blippy to yesterday's lunch crowd, and they immediately scoffed at the notion of broadcasting their credit card purchases. Given the inherent privacy concerns, I can't blame them one bit. Still, one of my points yesterday was to "fear not the cosmos" and for all we know, they could be managing geolocation campaigns for their companies or clients in the not too distant future.

On a personal note, I've played with Foursquare and will inevitably get dragged kicking and screaming. Tagging my "20" isn't my current cup of tea, but don't be surprised if I'm chirping about some chai concoction over wi-fi before long. Had the "First Mama" had Foursquare, she may have even allowed mobile check-in at the boozey bin. But I digress. Grab a cup of joe and a mobile app and see for yourself whether geolocation is right for you and your cause.

Mashable's Pete Sizemore summed up the the Kevin Smith and Southwest Airlines snafu quite well:

Southwest’s use of social media in addressing the situation could be said to be commendable.

It appears that some Southwest employee eyeing Echofon caught the tweet and immediately recognized his handle.  Even if he wasn't an avid fan of the View Askewniverse, said staffer undoubtedly saw the 1.6-million-plus followers and Verified Account seal and didn't hesitate to wake the customer relations veep outta bed.  The blog post went up faster that you can say "snootchie bootchies!" and I doubt most large airlines would be so nimble given the same circumstances.

The story has survived several news cycles with observers falling into the "die Southwest!" or "try a treadmill Smith!" camps.  No need for me to weigh in either way, though I must call out this: Silent Bob simply can't silence this story just because he wants to:

DONE with this. @SouthwestAir blogs, so I blog: http://silentbobspeaks.com/?p=393 G'night, folks. Let's talk about anything else tomorrow.

This story will end when it wants to, not just because he is suddenly tired of it.  Sorry, but that's jut now how life works.  Think of that the next time you are so fearless with a flip phone, Bluntman.

Over the years, I've mingled online in one form or another with the web greats.  Rubel, Garrett, Zeldman -- even a guy by the name of Berners-Lee.  But nothing compares to this, by far my proudest ping.

Note to Chase: do whatever Kevin Smith says, no matter how absurd.  And I'm really sorry about the slam, but it was great to see you again with the Mrs.

From Twitter:

eBay/Paypal and MillerCoors are donating a cent per hashtag (via tweet, Facebook update, or blog post). The campaign is aiming for a Guinness World Record 'for the distribution of the largest mass message through social media' in one day.

Also: Social Media Campaign to Beat Cancer Eyes Record in Guinness Book (via Mashable)

Cancer sucks, but Cleveland rocks.

Famed funny man from my old hood Drew Carey is raising awareness and dollars to fight cancer via social media.

The short of it: a guy named Drew Olanoff was diagnosed with cancer and decided to LIVESTRONG.  One thing led to another, he's auctioning off his Twitter handle @drew to the highest bidder, and Drew Carey will pony up a million bucks if an equal number of people follow him on Twitter.

I wonder how Twitter will hand off the followers between accounts, or whether other famous Drews (e.g. Barrymore, Dr. Drew Pinsky) will raise the ante.  Regardless, this is welcome news for cancer tweeps around the world.

Thank goodness for Follow Fridays.  Now go follow Drew Carey!

Proof from The Google's temporary cache that I, too, once had my ugly mug on The Facebook.

Sad that I had to drunk dial my 2 a.m. booty call that is Twitter after not returning her calls for months.  I mean, The Twitter.

The Posterous is no slouch, but boy do I miss The Facebook.