BlackBerry Users: how do you connect with others? Paying It Forward

I love it when I can connect with other BlackBerry users, regardless of where they geographically are, what level of usage they use their BlackBerry, or their level of experience.

I connect with BlackBerry users via the following sites (of course non BlackBerry users can also connect with me):
• Twitter (http://twitter.com/TferThomas)
• Facebook (http://facebook.com/TferThomas)
• BlackBerry Messenger (255B9281)
• FriendFeed (http://friendfeed.com/TferThomas)
• LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasskennerton)
• Xing (http://xing.com/TferThomas)
• Tumblr (http://tumblr.com/TferThomas)
• Blip.fm (http://blip.fm/TferThomas)

The good thing is most of these sites are available right from your BlackBerry, which is what I am all about...sharing the love about the BlackBerry way of getting things done, and paying it forward to anyone who needs assistance/advice/or even an ear or shoulder.

I enjoy the real satisfaction, a warm glow, when someone asks for BlackBerry advice, or if one of my friends introduces me to another BlackBerry user.

But I am not alone on this. No, my findings are crystal clear and validated, and the verdict has been reached; BlackBerry users, generally speaking, are a helpful bunch, and love nothing more than to be able share their BlackBerry knowledge, jump in and help out one of their own, or give their opinions to all and sundry regarding BlackBerry experiences.

I love it, and so glad to be part of this intriguing bunch!

So if I can help you, if you would like to share something with me, or even connect with me on multiple sites, please do, and together we can pay it forward.

Love the BlackBerry.

Paying it forward .... twitter style

The amazing thing about twitter, is the almost instantaneous nature of the conversation (or referred to as "tweets" from the twittersphere). The tweets are usually short and to the point, and really, how can they not be, when you are only allowed up to 140 characters per tweet?

So how does one pay it forward on twitter?

Firstly, paying it forward...

Paying it forward, if you weren't sure, is a concept by which I try to live my life by, and I know others do the same. To pay it forward, simpl means helping out someone randomnly (unplanned) in a way that potentially may give that person the necessary leg up so that they can achieve something important in their life. To you it is nothing of any great significance, and doesn't really cause you any discomfort, mentally, emotionally, physically, nor financially.

To the recipient however, your paying it forward may just be the missing piece in the puzzle for them to achieve something positive/life changing/life saving from their life, for their life. For example, placing some spare change into a parking meter, allows a person to park (they may actually have no money), and make that critical job interview on time, therefore win the interview process, get the job, and become employed for the first time in two years. What did it cost you.... $3.20 perhaps. But for them, that $3.20 helped them get their life back on track.

So, I understand the concept of paying it forward, now how can I pay it forward on twitter?

Twitter works on building a social/business network by finding people to follow, and people follow you..... and so it goes.

• You can pay it forward by simply connecting two people, who may not know each other, together, and you have paid it forward, because you are the middle link.
• Someone may be on hard times and needs that leg up.... you know someone who can assist, and by bringing them together, you have paid it forward.
• You come across some information tweeted by someone you follow, and you think it is interesting enough to retweet (share it again)... this information then goes out to all of your followers, maybe onto someone who really needs this tweet... you have paid it forward.

Paying it forward on twitter can really work. What does it cost you? Apart from your time... nothing.
So, the next time you feel an urge to share the love, I have three words to share... Pay It Forward.

Thomas

Saying goodbye to a phenomenal man

This week marked the passing of a truly great man...someone most of you won't know, and someone I had only know for a bit over 5 months.



My wife's Mother's brother-in-law, our Mosa, passed away peacefully (from all accounts; I wasn't present) last Tuesday. And he will be missed.



Mosa was not only present at our Hindu wedding back in March, but more importantly, he was both our Pundit (Hindu Priest) and our Civil Celebrant...he performed our wedding ceremony, and it was the last one he performed.



I met him for the first time about an hour before our wedding, and he instantly made me relax. Suffering a rare skin disorder, Mosa was literally as white as me, which really took me by surprise, and it sort of enhanced his Pundit "aura" in my mind.



Mosa ensured I was fully aware of what would and was happening, every step of the way, and I know from my family and friends' perspective (not to mention mine as well) this was hugely welcoming and comforting at the same time.



His keen sense of humour came into play a number of times during the ceremony (apparently my wife has to obey me! ;) ), and his patience for a Gora like me right in the middle of a Hindu wedding, was much appreciated.



But it was the two days after spent in Mosa's company that I was so lucky and fortunate to receive. For it was this time I was able to learn more about this great man's 80+ years of life's experiences...and there were many lessons learnt and still learning, as a direct result of our conversations, and time spent.



And it is not just me who obviously feels this way about Mosa...at his "public" funeral service, at least 500 people were in attendance, and the line of the people waiting to say goodbye seemingly took forever to run its course. He was well loved.



Mosa has gone to a better place, and we here are poorer for that. I now have someone else I can class as one of my life's guidance counselors; even though he has passed on, his memories and advice live on.



God rest his soul



Nameste

Having worldwide friends on twitter, and using twitter to revive a dead BlackBerry

The other night I was routinely doing a clean out of my BlackBerry Bold via the DeskTop Manager, removing a couple of applications that I no longer required, and loading one that I wanted to use again (you see some applications run hot and cold with me, and others, like Socialscope, Viigo, Google Maps, Wicked App and Tumblr, I never tire of).

The process seemed to go well, but I realised something must have gone awry when my Bold got stuck in a never ceasing reboot cycle...not a pleasant sight to behold...and this was at 9pm, on a week night.

So jumped straight into trusty google and conducted a search, as this has never happened to me with any of my previous 3 BlackBerry devices, and I really didn't know what to do.

Hmmm, this was going to take a while going through the search results. Hang on, it must be coming into the morning for the UK and Europe, so hunting through twitter, I wanted to find a couple of good experienced BlackBerry friends (thank goodness I follow as many BlackBerry users on twitter as I can) who may be able to assist, and sure enough Fabian (@FabianMH) and Rob (@evilbladeUK) had come online.

Trying a hard start (full battery pull for half an hour) didn't cut the mustard, but Fabian had quickly found the relevant links to both JL Commander (a Windows program to nuke your BlackBerry) and what to do with a continually cycling/rebooting BlackBerry, while Rob promptly found me instructions on how to push through the replacement OS via Windows DOS commands.

Now Fabian and Rob are very busy guys on twitter and elsewhere, but I was still able to get advice and encouragement staggered from both of them, which was just like having one person on call, just for you.

So then the process started at approximately 11pm that night, sitting in an office by myself, frustrated and bewildered, but with the comfort of knowing both Fabian and Rob not too far away (even though they were on the other side of the world)...the value of twitter being a real time communication and networking tool.

I came to a grinding halt with entering of the DOS commands, until I remembered something, an extra move required...on a Vista laptop, don't forget to right click and "run as administrator"...I lost half an hour, and almost lost what hair I have left.

It was a great sense of relief when the OS was pushed through to my crippled BlackBerry via Windows and not the DeskTop Manager, and then the Bold came to life...that in itself was a wait that seemed to last an eternity.

Yes I lost everything: data, contacts, 3rd party applications, settings...BUT I did something one day earlier which saved me a lot of time. Let me explain...

Nan Palmero (@NanPalmero) posted a blog about how to back up specific data etc via your DeskTop Manager, over and above what you would normally do with the standard automated back up...and I paid attention. More to the point, I acted on his suggestions. So I was able to retrieve I would suggest about 95% of what I lost.

Rob gave me one further piece of excellent information...a link to the BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 which I could not seem to locate.

So at 1am I headed to the apartment with a functional BlackBerry, SocialScope, Viigo and BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 added.

No dinner that night, but amazing lessons learnt. A big heartfelt thank you to Fabian, Rob and Nan...if you are a BlackBerry user and are on twitter...friend these three.

Now to pay it forward... If anyone wants more information as to the steps I used, the links that came in handy etc, let me know. I have learnt, and now in a position to share the love.