» On 2/18/2011 02:20:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Installing a Reviews tab on your Facebook fan Page.

OK, you've created a fan Page (for your band, business, book, cause, whatever) on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/

and you've upgraded to the new Page layout (tabs down the side, rather than across the top):

http://www.facebook.com/pages/status/

to meet the March 10 deadline. Now you want to install a "Reviews" tab, and you think it's malfunctioning, because you see a blank page with this text: "There are no reviews." I struggled with this App for days, and finally figured out that it's actually working... but to the Page Admin (me), it looks like it's out to lunch. However, other Facebook members are actually seeing a response box and "Share Review" button on that blank page, with five stars to choose as a Rating, like this:

http://www.facebook.com/fbworm?sk=app_6261817190

If you're installing a "Reviews" tab from scratch, here are the steps - first, make sure you're logged in as the Page Admin (in other words, don't "Use Facebook as Page") and then visit this page:

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=6261817190

and click the "Add to My Page" link. Choose the Page to which you wish to add the tab. Now go to that Page and click "Edit Info" and then "Apps." Scroll down to the "Reviews" App, and click "Edit Settings". Click "(add)" and "Okay". Now scroll up to the top and click "View Page". Click the "Reviews" tab over on the left, and you will see the blank page mentioned above. So don't panic - this actually means the "Reviews" App is working!

If you like this, you might give my book a five-star review:

http://www.facebook.com/fbworm?sk=app_6261817190

Thanks! Other Facebook tabs you can install:

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2305272732
Video: http://www.facebook.com/VideoApp
Notes: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2347471856
Links: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2309869772
Discussion Boards: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2373072738
Events: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2344061033
Music Player: http://www.facebook.com/MusicPlayerApp
Static FBML: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878

That last one is fun to play with - you can simply paste in HTML to get exactly what you want, like this:

http://www.facebook.com/fbworm?sk=app_10442206389

or use some simple FBML:

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/fbml/

to get a page like this:

http://www.facebook.com/fbworm?sk=app_4949752878

PS: If you notice a bug while using your Page, you can report it here:

http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=pages_bug

And if your account has been used to automatically send spam or misleading links (keywords: phish, phished, phishing):

http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=1009

 
» On 2/12/2011 02:55:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Thought that we'd be last to go.

Don't Give Up

Writer: Peter Gabriel
Performers: Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush

In this proud land we grew up strong
We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

No fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I've changed my face, I've changed my name
But no one wants you when you lose

Don't give up
'Cause you have friends
Don't give up
You're not beaten yet
Don't give up
I know you can make it good

Though I saw it all around
Never thought I could be affected
Thought that we'd be last to go
It is so strange the way things turn

Drove the night toward my home
The place that I was born, on the lakeside
As daylight broke, I saw the earth
The trees had burned down to the ground

Don't give up
You still have us
Don't give up
We don't need much of anything
Don't give up
'Cause somewhere there's a place
Where we belong

Rest your head
You worry too much
It's going to be alright
When times get rough
You can fall back on us
Don't give up
Please don't give up

Got to walk out of here
I can't take anymore
Going to stand on that bridge
Keep my eyes down below
Whatever may come
And whatever may go
That river's flowing
That river's flowing

Moved on to another town
Tried hard to settle down
For every job, so many men
So many men no one needs

Don't give up
'Cause you have friends
Don't give up
You're not the only one
Don't give up
No reason to be ashamed
Don't give up
You still have us
Don't give up now
We're proud of who you are
Don't give up
You know it's never been easy
Don't give up
'Cause I believe there's the a place
There's a place where we belong

 
» On 2/08/2011 01:45:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Bob Thurber finally published a novel! 

Paperboy is a must-read.

The author, Bob Thurber, showed up one day at Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Virtual Studio online writer's workshop, and blew us all away. His writing made ours seem pale and drab, by comparison.

There was a period, a few years back, when he dominated everyone's efforts to sell microfiction to a British website called the-phone-book.com (now defunct). Bob had already sold a few pieces to them, and generously shared the URL with all of us. So we became his competition, but it didn't matter. Bob's work continued to sell, as regular as clockwork. I was delighted when the editors bought two or three of my pieces, but Bob sold dozens and dozens.

He's the recipient of 40 awards and citations, and his first novel will be published in May.

I've been looking forward to this book for a long, long time.

--Interview
--Website (BobThurber.net)
--Blog
--Press kit
--Publisher
--First 7pp
--Signed copy
--B&N

 
» On 2/03/2011 02:15:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Hanging on quiet desperation is the English way.

Time
Writers: David Gilmour/Nick Mason/Roger Waters/Richard Wright
Performer: Pink Floyd [Wikipedia]

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say