It's May 1st and I am back from my month long hiatus from Facebook! Then I thought about it, and nobody really cares. In this video I explain the three reasons why no one really cares if you leave the world's most popular social networking site.

I am an uber-tech geek and ever since I saw a Facebook new profile page hack on Mashable.com  I wanted to try it.  The first thing is to choose the best photo with the main action on the left of the photo. Then I downloaded a psd and watched this tutorial . It took me a total of 10 minutes of my life (contrary to popular belief). The photoshop template helped out a lot.  Below is my before photo and my Facebook hacked profile. 

I am a  FourSquare user and I love the specials you can unlock and the competitive nature of it. I was a bit skeptical about Facebook Places, but  Itried  it and checked in to a few places and it was cool to see where your friends were at the time.  But like everything in Facebook, I had to go back had to go back to edit my privacy settings. To view a great tutorial on this, visit to Social Wayne's web site and adjust your settings.  I adjusted mine so friends couldn't tag me at a place-that could be disastrous, but I digress.

Quick thoughts:

• Facebook Places is new and will get better, but they need to offer something like "Mayorships" so that competitive nature can continue on from Foursquare.
• Privacy is always an issue and Facebook takes pains to get it right, but I still feel you should not have to opt-out of privacy. 

There are many people who will never use geo-location apps just on gp.  One friend told me, "What if I am working on something for a client and every time they see me at a location not home or at the office they know you're not paying attention to their project." Another one said, "I am not interested in sharing every waking moment of my life."  Those are valid points but there are many people who are and these apps are here to stay.  Here is a video by FB that is high in production value (looks like it was shot with a Canon DSLR) and explains Places well. 

Here is a short tutorial on how to use uStream.tv and Facebook to live stream sermons and other special events. All you need are two things: 1. A pretty decent internet connection (Cable/FiOS/DSL will do) 2. Web cam or camera that can hook up to a Firewire port or USB port 3. If you want lowerthirds and effects I suggest purchasing Wirecast for PC or Boinx TV for Mac. (Read my review about both products )

I have to admit in 2009, especially at the end of the year I have been on a Facebook roll.  I don't know what happened, but I started updating my status and actually talking to people online that I haven't even talked to offline. So do yourself and take the quiz and see how you fare. Created by Oatmeal

I conducted a facebook experiment—on Tuesday October 13 at 8:30 a.m. I changed my relationship status from married to it's complicated. If you don't know by now, the Facebook status is the hub of facebook—everything goes out on your news feed from that one update. I called a few friends who I told I was doing this to watch it play out. I just wanted to see how connected Facebook makes us and if changing my status really had that much impact. I have seen people change their status from "single" to "in a relationship" and the comments often, but I haven't seen someone change their status from married to "it's complicated, or something else." I came up with this idea with the approval of my wife Ros, (who doesn't want to be on facebook) after she saw a movie preivew adn texted me about it. The movie is called "It's Complicated," and I said to her what if I changed my status, would people really care and notice. The update of my status was ironically coincided on a west coast trip to California, so it really looked like things were complicated. As of this writing I received about numerous calls numerous texts and responses on my facebook status change. I also received calls to find out what happened and more. According to a Time Magazine article:

For many people, the manner in which they present themselves on Facebook has come to mirror how they see themselves in real life. Photos broadcast the fun they're having, status updates say what's on their mind and a change in relationship status announces their availability, commitment or something in between.

So I am changing my status back to married on facebook and I will keep it that way. I have been happily married since November 4, 2001 and have three wonderful daughters and that's my status and I sticking with it. Here are some good links about Facebook Relationship Status: How do you know your love is real? Check Facebook (CNN U) It's complicated: What your Facebook relationship status really means (Current.com)