Neha Tiwari Pvt. Ltd.

My last blog post was on April 28, 2008. My last pownce was 22 hours ago. I updated my Facebook status message 3 hours ago. And my latest tweet was 1 minute ago.

With all this up-to-the-minute information of what I am doing or how I feel, I have to wonder if personal blogs are becoming a thing of the past.

Using sites like Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, and to some extent Myspace/Facebook status messages keeps everyone in the know of how you feel, and what you are doing. Your friends can also respond with comments on your post (as seen on Pownce), or reply via a symbol trigger (@ on Twitter, ! on Pownce). Long-form blogs serve the same purpose, except allow a longer rant, and more in depth self-plugging abilities. So what’s the point of updating your blog when you can literally post the entire thing on Pownce? Is it simply aesthetic or RSS related?

Many of my peers and friends have made careers based on their blogs. Religiously posting their latest discovery or review, videos, etc. they have garnered great visibility with their own dot com. But even those folks seem to be moving towards twittering more, and Wordpressing less.

Like any new form of communication, or technology for that matter, the “old way” starts to diminish as more and more people jump onto the more convenient bandwagon of their choice. I do feel that micro-blogging is at its root more accessible. With services like twhirl, ping.fm,brightkite, twinkle, one can essentially mini-blog from anywhere at anytime, to more than one micro-facet. Services like those mentioned keeps popping up like your backyards’ gophers; there’s a new pile of dirt almost every time you look. The laptop-cafe culture of the late 90s is dying; the time of the smarphone API or dumbphone texting service is now.

Some may say that I am in a bubble, living in the very tech forward San Francisco, working for a new media company at that. On that same token, new ideas and ways of life are given birth here and spread to the rest of the nation like wildfire. The second sure sign of a paradigm shift: A number of people who add or follow me on these micro-blogs are under the age of 20.

Will Typepad, Wordpress, Blogger and the like go the way of the Do Do bird? Have you noticed this trend or are a purveyor of it yourself?

So, I’ve talked in the past how I have been working hard on “Show #15″ here at Revision 3. Well, I am happy to say that it has finally launched!

Called Social Brew, the show is all about social networks and the people who use them. It has gone through a lot of modifications, and it still very much is a work in progress. Along with producing parts of the show, I will be your guide to Bay Area meet-ups, and do a weekly segment on new apps and social networking websites.

As you all know, I live and breathe this stuff, so I am really enjoying working on this show. Also, our senior producer, Eileen Rivera has done a smashing job on really refining the idea of Social Brew.

Check it out, and please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism, likes, and suggestions welcome!

Hey friends,

I’m just gonna come out with it–I love Star Wars, and any paraphernalia related to the films. I have 2 toy lightsabers [1 Anakin; 1 Obi-won] and have gifted a Yoda, Dooku, and another Obi-won to my closest friends…so technically, I have bought them all! I also have an old cardboard lightsaber that a good friend of mine painted–but none were nothing compared to this Master Replicas Force FX Saber.

As you can see, that item is beautiful but really expensive. Plus, a big part of Jedi training is learning how to do things by yourself. So, there was only one solution left: I had to build my own.

I read a lot of websites, but wasn’t quite sure where to start. I enlisted the help of someone known on the forums as Novastar…and was glad to find out that he was relatively local. Matthew Carrauddo from The Cutting Edge was kind enough to stop by popSiren and show me how it was done. Then, I spent some time building one on my own. Want to see how it turned out? Check this out, padawans (and stick around for the bloopers at the end, pretty funny)!

If you want to know how exactly to build it and get a list of materials, see the show notes here. Now for some pointers:

1. Take Matthew’s advice; Try to get a narrow tube
I learned that bigger is not always better. Because my tube was 2″ in diameter, I had to get larger parts to accommodate it. However, finding a cost efficient thin LED Flashlight would have been even tougher if I went with the thinner sink part. Pick your battle, I suppose.
2. Use light parts, your arms will thank you!
I ended up using plumbing parts because of my large and in charge tube. Sink parts are much, much, lighter making it easier to maneuver the saber. Although, I gotta say that my guns look pretty good after toting that bad boy around for a few days :)
3. Be patient and keep focus
Building lightsabers can take some time. Understanding how it all comes together, and tweaking it for yourself can be frustrating and time consuming. Also know that this will not be your last lightsaber.

On that last note, I have to say that it’s a bit of an obsession. I want one thats even more realistic, and with noise. I’ll be tooling away in my workshop, and I’ll keep you posted on what becomes with this project. Try it out, and show me what you make!