If it looks like a party, it was.  Fun folks, great conversation and cold beer made this a wonderful Tweetup.  Jeffrey Strauss hosted this Twitter get together at the International Tap House in Chesterfield valley. It’s sort of the West County area of St. Louis Metro.

Yeah, that guy with the big grin is me. It was that much fun.

Jeffrey tossed the idea out just days before and it came to pass like clockwork. It was a good turn out with @VersaDave, @SandyShores, @MrShores, @StLConceirgeGuy, @SgtHotPants, @Rebecca_Rene, @donhead, @Nanna_J, and @Dizzy727.  Folks came ready to chat, kick back and share.

The great thing about this tweetup is that Jeffrey isn’t some ’social media expert’, in fact he’s more a Belgium beer expert; you should ask him. People still have the misguided idea that only the heavy hitters in social networking can put events together, or if not that, then a group has to sponsor. That’s rubbish.

There were get togethers long before there were formal groups or formal leaders. Leaders emerge because they do things like plan events. Anyone can step up and lead.

St. Louis has a burgeoning social networking and media scene. There are lots of great folks doing fun, interesting, and educational events. Big or small, well attended or barely noticed, they still count as events.

Tired of waiting for one of these events to come to your neighborhood? Your peeps aren’t attending those for some reason?

Plan your own. Today. Now.

You’ll be surprised that when you step out, people will come alongside.

(This post inspired by Jeff and those that came before.)

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Words With Friends

Words with friends isn’t you, me, and a dictionary; it’s a take on Scrabble(TM) developed just for the iPhone and Touch. The play is the same but the board layout is unique.  You’ll find double word and triple letter scoring just not in the same spots.

WWF is entirely touch play, beginning with game selection.

Words with friends screenshot game selection

Games where it’s your move are displayed in time sequence from most recent opponent move to oldest. In the shot above you’ll notice the eyes. Those indicate your opponent is watching the game. Additionally, if a number is displayed on the line, it means you have chat messages waiting for you in the game.

Tap on any Words with line and the game is highlighted. The screen then slides to the left displaying the board.

Words with friends screenshot playing board

The game board has two views. Zoomed out if the default. Zoomed in allows you to move it around.

Words with friends screenshot zoomed game board

Playing is easy; just tap the letter and drag it onto the board. If it ends up on the wrong square, just tap and drag it again.  There are buttons to Play (submit), Recall (clear placed letters), swap (allows swapping letters, don’t preselect, select after hitting swap), and Resign.

Topping up the screen are the Games and Chat buttons. Games goes back to the sorted list. Chat takes you to chat just for that specific game.

Play isn’t instant or demanding. Each player takes their turn and then the game waits for the opponent to make their move. There is no game timer, nor nudge option.

The game uses built in spell check, preventing players from making illegal moves. As in Scrabble, words formed cross-wise also must work..

Locating other players is a bit odd. You can invite someone from your contact list, a random person, search for another player by name, or choose Pass and Play.

Pass and Play means you and your opponent play on the same iPhone versus each other. You just take a turn and pass the iPhone over.  I’ve not tried this mode out yet.

The game is crash free, plays with wireless, and has push notifications. Being so easy to pick up and play makes this a great value and an equally great time sink.

Words With Friends on iTunes Store

Fiesta Agents gathered to celebrate the launch of the Ford Fiesta for 2010.  The night was equal parts launch and party, as the agents came together to receive rewards, reminisce over their missions, and show off their new favorite car.

Hilary M., you’ll see her in the lime green Fiesta and wedding dress, is a long time friend from the online world of Flickr. She made four cross-country trips in her Fiesta, pursuing many adventures.  One of those trips allowed her a night in the St. Louis area, which she graciously spent at my house.

The whole movement takes the idea of selling to a whole new level in the physical world. Books have long been given out early to reviewers and movies screened by critics. Recently the tech elite have even gotten a chance to try out the latest gadgets in betas. This is a first in that these Fiestas were not given to the elite, the critics, or even a select group of rich customers. They gave them to 100 free wheeling and fun agents, selected by contest.

Hilary M. and Tojosan

Excitement was clear to me in the videos and I equally so in person with Hilary. I had to ask her if it was just hype or if it was really all that fun. She told me story after story of fun, adventure, joy, and even sorrow. Her original Fiesta had a problem and she had to take it in to get it fixed.

This is my official ‘props to Ford’ for a job well done on this.  Stay tuned as at the end of the video there’s an announcement about Ford’s future Fiesta plans.

Do you know one of the agents? Were you an agent? Share the stories!

Cheers,

Todd/@tojosan

Bonus:

Agent Hilary M.

Hilary M.’s Ford Fiesta Movement Celebration photos

This is one of the new messages you’ll see when you visit a friend’s restaurant. There are a variety of calls for help as well.

Here’s the leak.

So there you go, you’ve got a leak to fix. It’s a no brainer though as you simply click on any of the leak spouts in the restaurant.  A click activates a small timer over the top of the leak or other issue. Once the countdown is done, away it goes.

You’ll receive a message box like the one above.  Your friend rewards you with either 5 or 10 coins. This doesn’t replace clean up coins you earn for picking up pizza slices and discarded soda cans. It’s an additional way to get some coins.

The nicest thing about this feature? It’s redeemable in all of your friends’ restaurants.  I was able to claim over 100 coins today in this feature alone. Not a windfall but it pays for those cups of water.

My personal favorite is the penguins.

Yeah, cute little guy. Apparently he’s equally annoying to leaks, a sleeping bear, giant mushrooms, and skunks. Honestly PlayFish, picking on penguins.

This is a fun feature addition to a pleasing casual game.  PlayFish continues to add nice little features.  Upcoming are new themes as well.

You can find Restaurant City on Facebook.

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Mafia Wars, a Zynga favorite, has added some new toys – Boosts! Never got one yet? Well they’re not hard to come by.

Here’s what the game shows about boosts:

These one-shot items can help you fight or defend better, and even give you discounts on energy required for jobs. Once consumed they are gone, so plan your actions wisely. You can only buy up to 20 of each boost each day.

Some examples:

The boosts are initially collected by re-vaulting collections.  Each collection has a specific bonus it gives.  Each bonus boost is a one shot item.

Making life easier with these though is the ability to buy a bunch up each day. They don’t stack, meaning only one boost of a type gets used at a time.  In addition, they get used automatically when you are the victim of an attack if you’ve used a defense boost.

The boosts awarded for each collection are given off to the side of each collection.  No need to hunt them down for research.

I’m looking forward to trying these out to see just how effective they are. Hoping you do the same and can share your experiences.

Find me on Facebook.

Add me to your mafia.